Case Study: Whiteriver Unified School District limits ransomware damage and avoids $60,000+ in losses with Netwrix Auditor (Netwrix)

Whiteriver Unified School District Combats a Ransomware Attack and Avoids over $60,000 in Damage

Whiteriver Unified School District, a five‑school district on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona serving nearly 3,000 predominantly Native American students and staff, faced growing security and compliance challenges from a distributed IT environment, high turnover and limited visibility into insider activity. The IT team needed centralized monitoring to prevent data loss, detect misuse and meet state and federal audit requirements.

By deploying Netwrix Auditor for Active Directory, Windows Server, file servers and Exchange, the IT director quickly detected a ransomware infection, disabled the compromised account and saved vital files—avoiding more than $60,000 in losses and potential fines. The solution also exposed deleted curriculum files tied to former employees, reduced audit preparation time, and helped the district streamline compliance and minimize the risk of insider misuse.

Whiteriver Unified School District

Pierre Dehombreux

IT Director