Investigations into the cyber attack that disrupted the Education Quality and Accountability Office’s (EQAO) online Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) on Oct. 20 have concluded.
Both Deloitte, an independent third-party forensic firm, and the Toronto Police Service confirmed to EQAO that a targeted denial of service cyber attack caused the technical issues that led to the OSSLT cancellation.
The Toronto Police Service has been unable to identify the perpetrators of the attack, officials state.
EQAO attempted to conduct the first province-wide administration of the OSSLT in October. The assessment was cancelled within a few hours due to widespread technical issues with the system caused by the attack.
The attack appeared to commence just after 8am on Oct. 20, which coincides with the start of the school day in Ontario.
It appeared to stop around noon, within one hour of EQAO’s announcement that the test was cancelled.
These observations lead to the conclusion that the cyber attack specifically targeted the OSSLT, officials say.
EQAO is discussing the implications of investigation findings with its business partners and stakeholders, and has welcomed feedback from the education community about any aspect of its move to online assessments. These considerations will help determine next steps and timelines to return to online assessments.
EQAO is also working with business partners to strengthen IT security to better protect against attacks.
