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Mystery surrounds the malware attack on Houston County School servers, which officials could not confirm involves ransomware, through which hackers hold data hostage for a demanded ransom.

Superintendent David Sewell said that teachers’ computers may not be available for use by the school start date, which has been delayed to Monday, Aug. 5, four days later than the original Aug. 1 start date.

“More than likely, teachers will have to take roll the old-fashioned way – with pen and paper,” Sewell said.

As of Thursday afternoon, representatives from iNow, Houston County Schools’ student information system software, told the technology department that they are unsure when it will be back online.

It is unclear when the system was hacked, but Sewell was made aware early Tuesday. Malware, or malicious software, is any program or file that is harmful to a computer user. Types of malware can include computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and spyware.

The extent of the damage to the district is unknown, but it has had at least a temporary impact on telecommunications, computer functionality, and online services system-wide. As of late Thursday, phone service was still down and teachers have been asked to not to turn on their work computers.