{
	"id": "63b1cc9c-f38e-45b2-84b3-6270c404c6e4",
	"created_at": "2026-04-06T00:21:50.858255Z",
	"updated_at": "2026-04-10T13:12:24.567817Z",
	"deleted_at": null,
	"sha1_hash": "64b584a3ef69a4bd675fd796d80784e1e746611a",
	"title": "K12 online schooling giant pays Ryuk ransomware to stop data leak",
	"llm_title": "",
	"authors": "",
	"file_creation_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
	"file_modification_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
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	"plain_text": "K12 online schooling giant pays Ryuk ransomware to stop data leak\r\nBy Lawrence Abrams\r\nPublished: 2020-12-02 · Archived: 2026-04-05 16:58:06 UTC\r\nOnline education giant K12 Inc. has paid a ransom after their systems were hit by Ryuk ransomware in the middle of\r\nNovember.\r\nK12 creates tailored online learning curriculums for students to learn from home while in kindergarten through 12th grade.\r\nOver 1 million students have utilized K12 to learn from home rather than in traditional public school environments.\r\nK12 announced this week that they suffered a ransomware attack in mid-November that caused them to lock down some of\r\ntheir IT systems to prevent the attack's spread.\r\nhttps://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/k12-online-schooling-giant-pays-ryuk-ransomware-to-stop-data-leak/\r\nPage 1 of 4\n\n0:00\r\nhttps://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/k12-online-schooling-giant-pays-ryuk-ransomware-to-stop-data-leak/\r\nPage 2 of 4\n\nVisit Advertiser websiteGO TO PAGE\r\n\"In mid-November, we detected unauthorized activity on our network, which has since been confirmed as a criminal attack\r\nin the form of ransomware.  Upon identifying unusual system activity, we quickly initiated our response, taking steps to\r\ncontain the threat and lock down impacted systems, notifying federal law enforcement authorities, and working with an\r\nindustry-leading third-party forensics team to investigate and assist with the incident,\" K12 told BleepingComputer in a\r\nstatement.\r\nThis attack did not impact their online Learning Management System (LMS) to deliver educational content or affiliated\r\ncharter schools. They also state that most major systems, including payroll, accounting, and enrollment systems, were\r\nunaffected.\r\nHowever, the attackers did gain access to some back-office systems that contained student data and other information.\r\nK12 paid Ryuk ransom to prevent data leak\r\nSources in the cybersecurity industry have told BleepingComputer that the Ryuk ransomware hit K12 Inc.\r\nWhen performing attacks, the Ryuk ransomware gang is known to steal unencrypted data before encrypting devices. This\r\ndata is then used in 'double-extortion' attempts where the ransomware gang threatens to leak stolen data if a ransom is not\r\npaid.\r\nAs the leaking of student data would be disastrous for any company, K12 utilized their cyber insurance to pay the Ryuk\r\nransom. It is not known how much was paid, but as part of the payment, K12 was assured by the threat actors that they\r\nwould not release stolen data.\r\n\"We have already worked with our cyber insurance provider to make a payment to the ransomware attacker, as a proactive\r\nand preventive step to ensure that the information obtained by the attacker from our systems will not be released on the\r\nInternet or otherwise disclosed..\"\r\n\"While there is always a risk that the threat actor will not adhere to negotiated terms, based on the specific characteristics of\r\nthe case, and the guidance we have received about the attack and the threat actor, we believe the payment was a reasonable\r\nmeasure to take in order to prevent misuse of any information the attacker obtained,\" K12 announced.\r\nRansomware negotiators have been increasingly warning that threat actors are not always keeping their promises regarding\r\nstolen data.\r\nDue to this, ransomware negotiation firm Coveware tells victims that it does not make sense to pay a ransom as there is no\r\nway to know for sure if data will be deleted or misused in the future.\r\nhttps://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/k12-online-schooling-giant-pays-ryuk-ransomware-to-stop-data-leak/\r\nPage 3 of 4\n\nAutomated Pentesting Covers Only 1 of 6 Surfaces.\r\nAutomated pentesting proves the path exists. BAS proves whether your controls stop it. Most teams run one without the\r\nother.\r\nThis whitepaper maps six validation surfaces, shows where coverage ends, and provides practitioners with three diagnostic\r\nquestions for any tool evaluation.\r\nSource: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/k12-online-schooling-giant-pays-ryuk-ransomware-to-stop-data-leak/\r\nhttps://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/k12-online-schooling-giant-pays-ryuk-ransomware-to-stop-data-leak/\r\nPage 4 of 4",
	"extraction_quality": 1,
	"language": "EN",
	"sources": [
		"ETDA"
	],
	"origins": [
		"web"
	],
	"references": [
		"https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/k12-online-schooling-giant-pays-ryuk-ransomware-to-stop-data-leak/"
	],
	"report_names": [
		"k12-online-schooling-giant-pays-ryuk-ransomware-to-stop-data-leak"
	],
	"threat_actors": [],
	"ts_created_at": 1775434910,
	"ts_updated_at": 1775826744,
	"ts_creation_date": 0,
	"ts_modification_date": 0,
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