Hamilton school board temporarily shuts down phones, email, and websites due to ‘potential cyber incident’

Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board is seen in this undated photo.

The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board says it has temporarily shut down its website, phones, and email “out of an abundance of caution” due to a “potential cyber incident.”

In a letter to families, the school board said it temporarily shut down internet access at 5 p.m. on Thursday.

“This means that critical HWDSB systems including Office 365 (email, phones, and landlines, etc.) and HWDSB’s websites will not be functioning,” the letter read.

All schools remain open and transportation is continuing as usual, the board added.

“We have manual systems in place to ensure that educational activities continue smoothly and safely during this time,” according to the letter.

An emergency phone will be used by school administrators and staff to make phone calls out, the school board said.

Elementary remote learning will be paused until the situation is resolved.

“At this moment, we do not know what the duration of this disruption may be, but we are actively working to resolve the situation,” the letter concluded.

“We will keep all families and the community informed as more details are confirmed, and the situation is resolves.”