The University of Waterloo dealing with ransomware attack | on email system | June 6, 2023
Channel: Hacking Space Frontier
Date: 2023-06-05

The University of Waterloo in Canada experienced a ransomware attack on its email system. The attack was discovered on May 30, and efforts have been made to mitigate its impact. The ransomware attack affected the on-campus Microsoft Exchange email services, while cloud-based email accounts were spared. As a result, the university temporarily disabled the email system, preventing students from logging in or creating new accounts. Students also faced difficulties accessing other educational platforms that required email credentials. The university isolated the affected service and initiated a complete system shutdown and reset, which lasted for approximately six hours. Online resources, including the school library's offerings, were impacted by the outages. The university held a town hall meeting to address concerns from students and faculty. The reset was successful, but students and faculty were required to change their passwords before June 8. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police discovered the attack and informed the Waterloo Regional Police and the university's Special Constable Services. No specific ransomware group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but similar incidents have been reported in Canada during 2023, affecting institutions such as Indigo, a Canadian bookseller, and The National Gallery of Canada.