Northern Ireland schools’ C2K network targeted in cyber attack
Summary
Northern Ireland’s Education Authority says the C2K school network was targeted in a cyber attack. A network-wide password reset has logged users out and access is unavailable; the EA has not confirmed whether personal data was affected.
Key points
- The Education Authority says it took immediate steps to contain the issue and is investigating.
- A full password reset logged all schools and pupils out; access to the system is currently unavailable.
- The disruption affects access to school learning resources and services, including email and OneDrive through C2K.
- The EA says Capita is conducting further security tests and it is engaging with the Information Commissioner's Office and relevant authorities.
- The EA has not confirmed whether personal data was affected.
Article Details
- Victim Organization
- Education Authority (EA), which manages the C2K network used by schools across Northern Ireland
- Victim Domain
- Unknown
- Incident Type
- Cyber attack targeting the C2K school IT system; the source does not confirm whether personal data was accessed or affected.
- Disclosure Date
- 2026-04-03
- Affected Records
- Unknown
- Affected Data Size
- Unknown
- Operational Impact
- All schools and pupils were logged out, and access to the system was unavailable. Pupils could not access schoolwork and resources, including email, OneDrive, and Google Classroom materials, disrupting revision and coursework access.
- Ransom Or Extortion
- None reported
- Claim Status
- confirmed
People
Jenny LendrumMethodist College principal who described how the C2K outage affected pupils' access to learning materials and revision resources.Kian HawesSecondary Students’ Union of Northern Ireland education officer and pupil who described the effect of the C2K outage on students' revision.Nick MathisonStormont education committee chair who raised the need to establish whether C2K users' data had been compromised.
Vendors
Products
C2KAll online and IT systems in schools in Northern Ireland are provided through the C2K network, managed by the EA.Google Classroom"We would have pupils who are working from Google classroom which would be where they would have all of their resources that are uploaded throughout the year," she said.Microsoft OneDrive"It also means that they would use OneDrive through C2K, so all of those different services are all linked."