Boy arrested following cyber attack on school IT system

A 16-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with a cyber attack on an IT network used by all schools in Northern Ireland.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said that detectives from the Cyber Crime Investigation Team made the arrest in Portadown in County Armagh on Wednesday.

"The arrest forms part of an ongoing investigation into a report received on Thursday 2 April of network intrusion activity involving the Education Authority," the PSNI said.

The IT system used by schools, called C2K, had been targeted in a cyber attack at the start of the school Easter break.

It meant that pupils using the network, managed by the Education Authority (EA), were locked out of their accounts, so pupils could not access work or revision saved or put online by teachers.

The police said that the boy had been arrested "on suspicion of offences under Sections 1, 2 and 3A of the Computer Misuse Act 1990".

He has since been released pending further enquiries and a follow-up search has taken place, the PSNI said.

In a statement following the arrest, the EA said that an investigation into the incident "has now confirmed that there was a targeted attack on a small number of schools which is believed to have compromised some personal data".

"Our immediate priority is notifying the individuals and schools impacted by the attack," they said.

"That process is being urgently progressed, guided by the final findings of the investigation and advice from the PSNI and the Information Commissioner's Office."

"It remains the assessment of our system managers that the cyber incident is contained."

It added that additional security measures were deployed at the beginning of the month after the incident was detected.

"Intensive work continues to ensure schools are fully reconnected to the C2k system and that all impacted systems return to normal," it said.