Austin ISD suspends Seesaw app access after hack

The district took action after Seesaw said an explicit image was sent to parents late Tuesday as part of a “coordinated attack.”

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin Independent School District is removing access to a messaging app after it was hacked.

The district took action after Seesaw said an explicit image was sent to parents late Tuesday as part of a “coordinated attack.”

Austin ISD told families Wednesday it is suspending online access to parents and students who use the learning and communication tool.

The district said the service would resume once the issue was fixed.

Below is the full letter Austin ISD sent to families and staff about the hacking Wednesday:

"Good afternoon, Austin ISD Families and Staff,

We learned this morning about an issue with one of our instructional vendors, Seesaw, regarding a global compromise that involved inappropriate content shared via their Messages tool. We have removed access for all users to our Seesaw accounts and classrooms, effectively immediately. We will resume access once we have been able to verify with the vendor and with our Austin ISD Technology team that the system is secure once again.

Thank you for your patience as we work through this issue."

Seesaw tweeted a statement Wednesday night it determined the incident was the result of someone from the outside trying to determine user account passwords.

Seesaw said it was not compromised, but isolated user accounts were compromised and used to send "an inappropriate link."

The company is providing more updates on its website.