A public school district near Schenectady is advising the community to avoid its Facebook page after a hacker took control and began sharing inappropriate videos. While local authorities and the FBI are investigating the breach, the district has confirmed that its internal servers and student data remain secure.
A school district in Upstate New York is currently dealing with a social media security breach after an unauthorized user gained administrative access to its official Facebook page. The Scotia-Glenville Schools, which serves several thousand students, notified the public that the compromise began on a Sunday morning when inappropriate content started appearing on the feed. District officials quickly issued a warning to parents and residents to steer clear of the page until the situation is resolved.
The trouble started when a hacker began posting video clips from the sitcom Two and a Half Men, some of which contained adult themes that the district characterized as completely contrary to its values. According to the school administration, the breach did not occur through their internal network but rather through a personal account belonging to a communications specialist. Because that individual had administrative rights to the school page, the hacker was able to take over the district's social media presence entirely.
Despite the public nature of the hack, the district has assured the community that their private data systems and servers were not affected. The security lapse was limited strictly to the Facebook platform and did not grant the hacker access to sensitive student or staff information. This distinction has been a point of focus for the administration as they seek to calm concerns about broader cybersecurity vulnerabilities within the school's infrastructure.
Regaining control of the account has proven to be a difficult process for the district. They have reported the incident to Facebook several times, but the platform has been slow to take action. The district noted that the recovery is delayed because the posted content, while inappropriate for a school setting, does not meet the specific high-priority criteria that trigger an immediate emergency response from the social media company's security team.
In the meantime, law enforcement agencies including the FBI and state police cybersecurity units are working to track down the source of the hack. The district is strongly urging all community members to refrain from visiting the page or clicking on any links or media posted there. They have also warned users not to interact with any messages or comments that appear to come from the account while it remains under the control of the malicious actor.
Source: https://www.newyorkupstate.com/news/2026/03/hacker-takes-over-upstate-ny-schools-facebook-page-posts-inappropriate-videos-from-2000s-sitcom.html