A college in California that came under attack from hackers who launched a cyberattack disrupting the institution's email, voice mail and computer systems, ended up paying a ransom in Bitcoins.

School officials at the public community college in Southern California found a ransom note.

'You have just 7 days to send us the Bitcoin after 7 days we will remove your private keys and it's impossible to recover your files,' the attackers wrote in the note as seen by The Washington Post.

Los Angeles Valley College paid a cyber-ransom in order to get back online after the school's computer network came under attack, officials confirmed

The threatening note told college administrators at Los Angeles Valley College that all electronic files on the school's servers had been encrypted and could only be unlocked with a 'private key' which would only be given once payment had been received.

The hackers chose to use Bitcoin because it can be used anonymously, without using a centralized bank.

Ultimately, the $28,000 ransom was paid after officials decided it would be cheaper to pay up than to set up an entirely new IT system.

'In consultation with district and college leadership, outside cybersecurity experts and law enforcement, a payment of $28,000 was made by the District,' Francisco C. Rodriguez, the district's chancellor, said in a statement.

The cyberattack caused widespread disruption to online, email, financial aid and voicemail systems, including locking out 1,800 students and teachers from their computers

'It was the assessment of our outside cybersecurity experts that making a payment would offer an extremely high probability of restoring access to the affected systems, while failure to pay would virtually guarantee that data would be lost.'

'While much time will pass before this matter is resolved, we have already availed ourselves of the resources provided by the policy, including assistance of cybersecurity experts,' district officials said in a statement.

Officials chose to pay $28,000 in Bitcoins to unlock the ransomware, stating it was ultimately cheaper to pay the ransom than to remove the ransomware virus

After the payment was made, district officials say that access too the college's email and information system was granted.

The attack occurred during the winter break and highlights the vulnerability of businesses and institutions to malicious hackers who look to disrupt databases and networks.

In 2016, it is believed up to 20 educational facilities were hacked including the University of Virginia, the University of Central Florida, the University of Connecticut and Michigan State University.

Phil Lieberman, a cybersecurity expert, told the LA Times that attacks are common among companies and government agencies that use the Internet.

'The attacks generally come out of Eastern Europe and cannot be stopped because the United States does not have pacts with the countries where the attacks are launched,' he said.