Fall River Public Schools in Massachusetts hit by ransomware attack

Fall River Public Schools, the public school district serving the city of Fall River in southeastern Massachusetts, said an unauthorized party reached parts of its internal network in April 2025. Chief Information Officer Scott Cabral identified suspicious activity on Monday, April 7, and information technology staff moved to contain it the same day.

The district engaged outside cybersecurity specialists and law enforcement. In its initial statement, Superintendent Tracy Curley said there was no evidence at that point that personal information belonging to any student or staff member had been accessed or misused, and that the district would notify anyone affected if the forensic review found otherwise.

The operational disruption was significant. The district lost access to email and the internet, students were kept off their school-issued Chromebooks and completed lessons on paper, and MCAS standardized testing scheduled for that week was postponed.

Mayor Paul Coogan confirmed on April 17 that the district had been hit by ransomware and that the FBI was involved. He said he did not know the amount of the ransom demand, that the data at risk appeared to consist mainly of older human resources records, and that the district's main student and staff information system was believed to be secure. Coogan said the attack appeared to have come from a southern U.S. state, but that investigators believed it only passed through that state and originated in another country, while cautioning that the information was preliminary. The investigation remained open at the end of the month.