Extortion case remains highest priority
Patrolman Chad Sweigart of the Columbia Falls Police Department keeps watch at the main entrance to the Junior High on Tuesday, September 19. Law enforcement has said that they believe the threat is most likely a cyber threat and not a physical threat, and yet officers around the Flathead Valley took on additional shifts to reassure parents and students with their presence.(Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)
Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said although the investigation involving cyber threats to student safety has morphed into an extortion case, local law enforcement continues to treat it with the highest priority.
The Sheriff’s Office is still in contact with the cyber criminals that allegedly hacked into the Columbia Falls School District computers and sent threatening text messages that shut down schools valleywide for three days.
“We are still actively working on the case with all the same resources as when we thought there was a credible threat,” Curry told the Inter Lake.
At this point, the sheriff said “we are keeping a lot of the details to ourselves because of the ongoing investigation.”
Law enforcement officials have also continued to communicate with staff throughout Flathead Valley school districts, particularly with those directly impacted by the security breach, according to Curry.
The Columbia Falls School District is working with local law enforcement and the FBI to pinpoint the depth of information obtained by the cyber hackers.
Columbia Falls Superintendent Steve Bradshaw sent out a letter earlier this week asking parents and students for patience as the investigation is carried out.
“I know we have a lot of people who are concerned out there,” said Bradshaw.
“We are pretty certain we found out which server was compromised,” he added.
Exactly how far the hackers got into the system remains to be seen.
“We are in a waiting game, and I’m hoping we’ll find out what they have access to soon,” Bradshaw said. “We have a lot of people putting in long days and working really hard to help us. It takes time to go through all of the data.”
The school district was first tipped off to a possible breach in security the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 12, when Bradshaw received a “real threatening text message.” That text wasn’t directed specifically at the schools, he said. But he contacted law enforcement right away.
From there, it didn’t take long to realize that a security breach had occurred. The threatening messages spread to other members of the Columbia Falls School District and members of surrounding school districts. At one point, the threats reached parents of students in the school district.
“The messages that were sent out were pretty horrendous and would scare any parent,” Bradshaw said.
The number of threats have lessened in the past week, “at least for now,” Curry said.
If anyone does receive a threatening text or email they should contact the Sheriff’s Office, not only to aide police, but also to prevent themselves from any viruses or further data hacks, Bradshaw advised.