Man Jailed For Cyber-Attack At Market Harborough School

A man who carried out a cyber-attack at Welland Park Academy in Market Harborough has been jailed for 21 months.

Adam Georgeson, who previously worked as an IT technician at the school, hacked into its computer systems last January, wiping data and changing passwords, stopping anyone from accessing them.

His actions prevented remote learning for over a thousand students during lockdown restrictions and affected some of their home computers.

Pic: Andy Carpenter

The costs incurred by the school to recover from the attack was £15,000.

Georgeson, 29, of Robin Lane, Wellingborough, pleaded guilty to two counts of computer misuse and was sentenced at Leicester Crown Court today.

The second count related to malicious and unauthorised actions to computer systems at an IT firm, where he had also previously been employed.

Detective Constable Anthony Jones, from Leicestershire Police’s Cyber-Crime Unit, led the investigation and spoke to Hfm:

A compensation application is set to be made on behalf of the school at a future hearing.

Julie McBrearty, Principal at Welland Park Academy, said: “Thanks to the sterling work of the Leicestershire cyber police and our own IT staff the culprit was quickly apprehended, the damage to learning limited to 4 days without online lessons.

“There was no exfiltration of staff or students’ data because of the robust ICT infrastructure at the school which has Cyber Essentials certification.

“Unfortunately, there was some damage to information stored on personal devices. We worked with the police to recover this data and limit damage where possible.

“All our students are taught about ESafety , how to assess risk and strategies to ensure they are safe online. A group of our students have previously worked with the local police as digital leaders to ensure the material the police produce for training and education is student friendly.

“Just this week, students have attended assemblies in line with Safer Internet Day and understand because of our experience as a school how real the dangers are. This custodial sentence will make it clear that this criminal activity has significant consequences for both victims and perpetrator.”