{"id":40476,"date":"2021-04-16T09:40:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-16T09:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ac7b0b04-dabc-4e17-9c30-7d64cf89fb71"},"modified":"2021-04-16T09:40:00","modified_gmt":"2021-04-16T09:40:00","slug":"cyberattack-on-uk-university-knocks-out-online-learning-teams-and-zoom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/cyberattack-on-uk-university-knocks-out-online-learning-teams-and-zoom\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyberattack on UK university knocks out online learning, Teams and Zoom"},"content":{"rendered":"

The University of Hertfordshire has suffered a devastating cyberattack that knocked out all of its IT systems, including Office 365, Teams and Zoom, local networks, Wi-Fi, email, data storage and VPN. <\/p>\n

The university reported the hit by attackers on Wednesday, resulting in the cancellation of all online classes on Thursday and Friday.  <\/p>\n

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ZDNet Recommends<\/span> <\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

“Shortly before 22:00 on Wednesday 14 April, the University experienced a cyber-attack which has impacted all of our systems, including those in the Cloud such as Canvas, MS Teams and Zoom,” it said in an update on its website<\/a>.  <\/p>\n

SEE: <\/strong>Network security policy<\/strong><\/a> (TechRepublic Premium)<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Due to pandemic<\/a><\/span> restrictions on in-person classes, the university and most students still depend on online learning and video-conferencing apps like Zoom. The UK government has allowed some students to return to in-person teaching if they require specialist equipment, but has banned a full return until at least May 17<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The university noted that the outage may impact students submitting assignments, but assured them that no student would be disadvantaged as a result. <\/p>\n

Students were allowed to attend the university so long as computer access wasn’t necessary.  <\/p>\n

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“You will not be able to access computer facilities in the LRCs, Labs or the University Wi-Fi. Remote access to specialist software and PCs is currently unavailable,” the university said. <\/p>\n

Hertfordshire’s system status page<\/a>, last updated 17 hours ago, shows the extent of the disruption. <\/p>\n

SEE: <\/strong>Phishing: These are the most common techniques used to attack your PC<\/strong><\/a> <\/p>\n

It’s not clear what kind of cyberattack the university experienced, but the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) last month warned of a surge in ransomware attacks on schools, colleges and universities<\/a>. <\/p>\n

“In recent incidents affecting the education sector, ransomware has led to the loss of student coursework, school financial records, as well as data relating to COVID-19 testing,” the agency said. <\/p>\n

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