Teen arrested in Northern Ireland over cyberattack on school network The Record from Recorded Future News

pppLeadershipppCybercrimeppNationstatepp Influence Operations ppTechnologyppCyber DailyppClick Here Podcastpp Free Newsletterpp A 16yearold boy has been arrested in Northern Ireland after a cyberattack disrupted access to educational systems used by potentially hundreds of thousands of students pp The boy who has not been named for legal reasons was arrested Wednesday in Portadown County Armagh on suspicion of offenses under the Computer Misuse Act pp The Police Service of Northern Ireland PSNI said he has been released while detectives from its cybercrime team continue their investigation which has included an additional search following the arrest pp It comes as the C2K system shared by almost all schools in Northern Ireland was taken offline earlier this month following an unspecified attack pp The Education Authority EA which oversees school support services said Wednesday the incident was a targeted attack on a small number of schools which is believed to have compromised some personal data pp The EA said it would be notifying individuals and schools impacted by the attack depending on guidance provided by the PSNI and the Information Commissioners Office pp It remains the assessment of our system managers that the cyber incident is contained Additional security measures were deployed at the beginning of this month on detection of the incident the EA said pp Intensive work continues to ensure schools are fully reconnected to the C2k system and that all impacted systems return to normal pp The vast majority of schools in the region are connected to C2K which provides online services including access to teaching materials assignments exam revision and communication tools pp There are around 300000 pupils and 20000 teachers in Northern Ireland according to official statistics although there has been no formal confirmation of how many individuals might have been impacted by the incident pp The EA said previously it was making good progress restoring access and was prioritizing pupils at critical points in the academic year particularly those due to sit examinations pp In some cases schools opened during the Easter holiday period to help students reset passwords and regain access Officials said work will continue over the coming days to fully restore services adding that the need to secure the system must be balanced against pressure to bring it back online quickly  pp The EA has apologized for the disruption and said it will continue to provide updates as the situation develops ppAlexander Martinpp is the UK Editor for Recorded Future News He was previously a technology reporter for Sky News and a fellow at the European Cyber Conflict Research Initiative now Virtual Routes He can be reached securely using Signal on AlexanderMartin79 ppPrivacyppAboutppContact Uspp Copyright 2026 The Record from Recorded Future Newsp