BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. (WDVM) — The Morgan County school system is trying to recover from a ransomware attack. The FBI has been alerted after a hacker group, possibly from Russia, is demanding $70 million dollars from the school system to unlock files that were seized earlier this month.

The school system’s tech department is sweeping computers to see which have been infected with malware. School board President Aaron Close says he is not able to discuss what files may have been compromised, but school superintendent Kristen Tuttle says just “office” computers were impacted. Meanwhile, an IT specialist in the county seat of Berkeley Springs said institutions must be careful about installing software that may be penny-wise but pound-foolish.

“A lot of institutions like Norton software or McAfee or someone who will give bargains to schools and government organizations. That’s not necessarily the best thing for them. But that’s what they do,” Michael Sisenstein from Mike the Computer Guy said.

School officials have reached out to the West Virginia Board of Risk Insurance Management (BRIM) about a claim to cover the damages.