Cadet Dance & Ransomware Attack

Friday, November 1 was a very long day for me.  It happened to be a school day right after Halloween so I was expecting to see many students on sugar rushes from the candy they collected & consumed the previous night.  Thankfully, there weren’t that many sugar-rich filled students running around during recess.  (Fridays are my recess duty days).  I think a few adult staff also had the shakes from having eaten a lot of candy.  Or was it just me?   

My drummers & I reviewed the film footage of us playing in the gym at the Halloween Assembly and agreed our performance was mostly good.  We did make a few mistakes but no one noticed because we didn’t “make a scene”.  The school’s Christmas concert in mid-December will be our next performance.  Until then, we have new rudiments, techniques, visuals, warmups, tricks, and cadences to learn.

The day wasn’t over when the bell rang at 3:35pm.  I would have the afternoon to relax at home but my presence was required at the community hall in the evening.  3045 Army Cadet Corps was hosting an evening dance to fundraise money for custom clothing and operational expenses.  Cadet corps receive fixed amounts of money from the Department of National Defence for their operating budgets, but they’re not enough.  All corps fundraise for various activities, field trips, and other things. 

Admissions & Snacks Tables

Snacks for sale.

I arrived at the community hall at 9pm.  Cadets were not required to wear uniforms.  We set up tables in the lobby for admission and snacks.  Admission was set at $2.  Selling snacks and soft drinks are the primary money makers at these dances.  Cotton candy was a big draw in the past but we no longer have access to a cotton candy machine.  The dance was split into two parts: 12 & under from 9:30pm – 11pm; and 13 & older from 11pm to 1am.  The cadets would handle mostly everything and I would be their supervisor.  My other duties included collecting large money bills and checking the noise level of the music.  The music would be provided by DJ iPod – (Not an actual person. Only a mechanical device).

There were more than enough cadets to help with the running of the dance.  The event began on schedule and many kids lined up to pay admission and gain entry.  Some immediately went to the snack tables before entering the dance hall.  Cadets also sold glow sticks because kids love playing with glow sticks in the dark. 

At 10:30pm, the music was turned off and the lights were turned on.  The cadets played games with the kids for the last 30 minutes of the first dance.  The various games had kids competing individually and in groups.  Winners were rewarded with prizes.

          

At 11pm, the younger kids left and the older kids came inside.  Music would continue to play until 1am.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on who you are, no games are played with the older kids & adults.  I dismissed the first-year cadets for the night.  The remaining cadets continued collecting admission and selling snacks.  Admission was free after midnight.  We stopped selling snacks at 12:45am and began counting all the money we collected.  The corps would turn a good profit.

            

The cleanup began at 1am.  The cadets helped the community hall staff sweep, mop, put away the tables, and empty the garbage bins.  When I got home at 1:45am, I immediately went to bed and woke up at 11am on Saturday.  The money was deposited at the Co-op in the afternoon.

            

Ransomware in a nutshell.
Source: Vade Secure

The month of November began well for 3045 Army Cadet Corps.  The same could not be said for the Government of Nunavut.  Government computer systems fell victim to a ransomware attack on November 2.  I believe most of the servers are located in Iqaluit but this attack affected the entire territory.  The invasive virus encrypted important documents & files, and crippled government services, such as, income-support payments, internet access, and mailing printed copies of pay stubs to employees.  All the affected systems could be decrypted with a key-code if the government paid the hackers a specified amount of currency.  The territorial government has decided not to pay and will instead reformat all government computers.  I’m not sure how much that will cost.  The cost of airfare alone will be substantial because technicians will be travelling to all communities to manually reformat everything.  The government is also getting help from various professional organizations. 

            

A message you never want to see on
your computer. Source: Secure Ops.

The ransomware attack caused “serious headaches” for everyone involved in education.  For starters, we were instructed not to use the new Dell computers installed in the classrooms over the summer.  We also could not use the government approved online database program for attendance, inputting grades, and producing report cards.  We’re now using more paper to keep track of everything until the systems are rebooted.  There are rumours swirling that it’ll be at least two weeks before things get back to normal.  

The school’s internet speed is dreadfully slow.  If I want to show educational videos or pictures to my students, I have to download them at home using my own internet.  I’m thankful I use my personal tablet computer for teaching.  All my lessons & resources are there.  I also have everything backed up.  I’m considering buying a Wingle stick from Qiniq so that I can access my internet at school.  I’m not keen on bringing my large router from home every school day.  This attack shows just how dependent we all are on the internet and the vulnerability of government computer systems.