The University of Sunderland in the UK has taken its IT system down and is still unable to access online lectures following a cyberattack.
- The University of Sunderland was hit by an extensive IT disruption which has all the hallmarks of a cyber attack.
- The university's telephone lines, IT and email systems, website, and mobile app are offline.
The University of Sunderland in the UK has taken its IT system down and is still unable to access online lectures following a cyberattack.
The University of Sunderland is a public research institute with about 20,000 students, so the disruption from the cyber-attack affects many people.
The first signs of disruption for the university’s IT systems occurred on Tuesday morning but remain widely impactful and unclear.
The attack appears to have taken down all telephone lines, the official website, and the primary email servers.
Staff and students could not communicate over Microsoft Teams or the university’s Canvas virtual learning environment (VLE), which can access coursework and feedback or submit assignments.
The University campus remains open, but students are unable to use many on-site services, including printing and Wifi. Students could not access the library PCs, loan laptops, online journals, ebooks and other services.
Students who don’t have any urgent queries are advised to follow the university’s social media channels for updates on the situation, as the only operating inbox is overwhelmed.
Also, an alternative domain has been set up on "uostoday.sunderland.ac.uk" to provide some updates to concerned students, but don't expect any services to be offered through there.
Unfortunately, there is no estimate on when the systems will be up and running again, as the attack appears still in the containment phase.
“We take the security of our systems extremely seriously and will work to resolve the situation as quickly as possible," said a spokesperson.
For the latest cyber threats and the latest hacking news please follow us on Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter.
You may be interested in reading: How to Survive the COVID Time Cyber Security Threats?