Grassfield High School families in Chesapeake got an unsettling letter Monday evening: some student email accounts had been hacked, and the intruders used them to send threatening and sexually explicit messages to other students. The school disabled the compromised accounts and brought in law enforcement to investigate, while telling families it did not believe the school community faced a credible threat.
Some Grassfield High School students received emails containing threats and inappropriate and explicit content, according to WAVY, which reported that the cybersecurity incident affected several individual student email accounts. Principal Brian Haughinberry told families the compromised accounts have been disabled and the school is closely monitoring its system, per the station's report. He also acknowledged the messages could be potentially concerning to students and families, though he did not share details about what the emails actually said, according to 13News Now.
Technology Staff Loop In Police
Chesapeake Public Schools' Department of Technology is working closely with law enforcement to thoroughly investigate the matter, the district said in a statement obtained by WTKR. The same statement said officials believe there is no credible threat to the school community at this time. Even so, the district said there will be an increased law enforcement presence on campus Tuesday as a precautionary measure, per the same account.
Families were asked to take some basic precautions in the meantime. The district told parents not to open suspicious emails, click links or attachments in suspicious messages, respond to suspicious emails, or forward them, per WTKR's report. Students and families were also urged to report anything concerning immediately to a school administrator, the district said.
A Separate, Unverified Threat Report
In a separate development, Grassfield High School administrators were also investigating an unverified and anonymous threat reported Friday morning, according to a WAVY report on heightened police presence at the school. Officials in that report advised families to avoid spreading misinformation, particularly on social media. It is not established whether that anonymous threat is connected to Monday's email compromise.
Not Grassfield's First Cybersecurity Scare
This isn't the first time Grassfield High has been singled out in a Chesapeake Public Schools cybersecurity episode. Back in November 2018, the district said malware entered its network through phishing emails sent to employees, interrupting service to a few specific areas of the division — and Grassfield's building was among those included, according to WTKR's coverage at the time. District officials said then that classes heavily relying on technology were affected while others carried on as usual, and that the malware, which targeted only Windows-based devices, was found on single computers at several other schools without impacting them the way it did Grassfield. The district even rescheduled its DECA Day event that year to give its IT department time to address the issue.
Similar Incidents Beyond Chesapeake
Compromised student accounts being weaponized to spread threats isn't unique to Chesapeake. In Maryland, threats sent through compromised student Canvas accounts prompted investigations by Howard County police and the FBI, according to WBAL-TV. The Howard County Public School System said a few student accounts were found to be compromised and bad actors used Canvas to send threats broadly, though the threats were ultimately found to be non-credible and seemingly originating overseas. That district immediately suspended the compromised accounts, told students to reset their passwords, and increased officers' presence at the affected schools as a precaution — steps that echo what Chesapeake Public Schools has now put in place at Grassfield.
