England-based University of Northampton has suffered a cyber disruption that could have probably been caused by a ransomware attack. However, university authorities have clarified that the disruption was caused by a cyber attack, but failed to acknowledge the attack as a ransomware variant.
Highly placed sources say that the attack took place on March 17,2021 bringing IT, Telephone and server communication to a big halt.
The Information Commissioner’s office, Police Department of Northampton and the NCSC, a cyber arm of GCHQ, has been informed about the attack and disruption.
All project submissions last dates have been pushed back and might get extended till middle of April this year.
Students, teaching staff and those related to administration have taken alternative modes of communication to keep in the loop and the Universiti’s Wi-Fi network has been restored already.
Third party security firm has also been hired to investigate the impact of the incident and forensic investigators will assist them in doing so.
“We at the University of Northampton are taking cyber security on a serious note and will do the best in restoring the services at the earliest,” said a spokesperson of the UK based educational institute.
Note- A ransomware is a kind of malware that encrypts a database until a ransom is paid. However, those spreading the said file encrypting variant are now indulging in double extortion techniques where they first steal data and then encrypt a database so that, if a victim denies paying a ransom, the stolen data could be sold on the dark web for profits.
