COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A "code red" alert that sent classrooms across the Cobb County School district into lockdown earlier this month later turned out to be a false alarm. But now, the school system says police have evidence that someone was able to get into the emergency alert system and purposely activate the false alarm.
The district's emergency alert system, AlertPoint, sent principals and employees an alarm message that immediately prompted all campuses into "lockdown" status.
"This false alarm disrupted instruction and led to a high degree of anxiety for some students and staff," the district said.
Though it turned out to be a false alarm, the district said it began an investigation into how it was triggered. The district said it didn't take long to find out it wasn't an accident.
"Fairly quickly, it appeared that the false alarm signal (1) was intentionally triggered rather than a malfunction, and (2) was uniquely limited to the AlertPoint system in CCSD," the district said in a statement.
Shortly after, the school system asked the Cobb County Police Department's Technology Based Crimes Unit to do some digging. The agency did, coming to the conclusion that the false alarm signal "occurred through a targeted, external attack," according to the district.
"We do not yet know the motives of those attacking the District's AlertPoint system," the district said. "However, it appears the crime was committed to disrupt education across the District, create district-wide chaos, and produce anxiety in the District's students, parents, and staff."
"This was not a 'prank,' nor will it be treated like one," it warned.
Dr. Andy Green, a cyber security expert at Kennesaw State University, said it's clear that “Cobb County, the school system, was the victim of a crime."
Green said he has found cybercriminals can easily hack into public emergency alert systems nationwide, to send false alarms, anywhere, from anywhere, such as when hackers were able to get inside the Dallas, Texas, computerized storm alert system, and activate the tornado sirens, even though there were no tornadoes.
“Adversaries can just brute-force their way in, using a combination of usernames and passwords, until they’re able to authenticate into that system, and then do what they would like to with that system," he said.
Four years ago, Cobb County Schools began installing the multi-million-dollar AlertPoint system in all the schools. Every teacher is authorized to trigger an alarm in response to any emergency.
The AlertPoint website says its system “cannot be hacked by outsiders,” even though it appears to police that’s just what an outsider did three weeks ago.
In the words of one parent on social media, then: “My middle school and high schooler thought they were going to die." Green said it's something that should never happen.
“The public’s faith in these systems has to be absolute," he said.
Green said finding out who may have gotten into the system - and how - can be tough. But it’s essential, "to mitigate that vulnerability in the future, so that a second adversary can’t come in the say way that this adversary did."
Meanwhile, the district said it is cooperating with the police department's Technology Based Crimes Unit, which will "continue to investigate until those responsible and involved have been identified and prosecuted."
If anyone has information related to the cyber attack on our district, they're asked to contact the Cobb County Police Department's Tip Line at (770) 499-4111 or the Cobb County School District Police Department's Tip Line (470) 689-0298.