Grade 10 students wrote a low-tech version of the provincial literacy test Thursday morning — using pen and paper — after a cyberattack last fall forced officials to cancel it.

The Education and Quality and Accountability Office, or EQAO, has confirmed the digital version of the test on October 20 — as part of a pilot project to move the mandatory exam online — was intentionally targeted by hackers in what’s called a sustained distributed denial of service attack.

Toronto police investigated but have not been able to track down those behind it.

The October test was shut down just hours after it began, affecting 150,000 teens. The EQAO says it is now working to improve its online security.

The agency was criticized by cybersecurity experts who said it should have been better prepared, given attacks like this — ones where sites are overloaded with “junk” traffic — are increasingly common.

At the height of the attack, 99 per cent of the traffic was not from schools or boards, but IP addresses from around the world.

While the EQAO had hoped to run the test online during its usual spring date, it later said it was safest to offer on paper only rather than risk repeating the chaos of last October.

The agency will still move ahead with a digital version of the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test, but does not have a timeline.

“Following the recommendations of the investigations conducted by the Toronto Police Service, EQAO is working to address the necessary technical issues, security concerns and system stability requirements,” said Education Minister Mitzie Hunter.

“Before the (test) moves back online, I will need to be assured by EQAO that the necessary system requirements are in place and that all security concerns have been addressed. As cyberattacks across the world are growing increasingly complex, we will continue to work collaboratively with EQAO and support their move to online assessments in a manner that prioritizes student achievement and well-being,” she said in a statement to the Star.

Some 177,000 teens wrote the test Thursday morning, as their teachers posted messages of encouragement on using social media, including one in the Grand Erie public board who tweeted pictures of tables with bowls of fruit, juice and water saying “Good luck in the #OSSLT everyone! We’ve got your nutritional needs covered!”

Another said “Keep calm and pass the OSSLT.”

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During last fall’s cyberattack, almost 12,000 students were able to successfully finish the test before it was shut down, and they were exempt from writing the paper test.

Students must pass the test in order to graduate.