Irish university computer systems taken offline after cyber attack
It is the latest in a long and growing list of attacks on education institutions
National University of Ireland Galway (NUI Galway) is working to restore its IT network, after spotting an attempted cyber attack.
Just before 9am on Thursday, the university sent an email to students and staff to say there was a 'disruption to connectivity'.
In a subsequent email, students were told the disruption was due to an attempted cyber attack.
A spokesperson told the Irish Times that after detecting the attack, the university's IT security team blocked all internet traffic into and out of the university network as a precautionary measure. They also blocked access to satellite sites NUI Galway operates in Donegal and Connemara.
As a result, students outside the campus were unable to access online lectures. It also led to limited communication among staff.
The spokesperson said there was no evidence to suggest that any data was compromised during the attack.
"Our IT, cyber security and data protection specialists are monitoring and investigating the incident closely," the spokesperson added.
"We are working to restore normal access as soon as is possible. We apologise for the inconvenience caused."
The incident is the latest in a series of cyber attacks on educational institutions, which have caused many schools and colleges to lose financial records, COVID-19 testing data and students' work.
In April, a cyber attack impacted the IT systems at at the University of Hertfordshire, including cloud-based systems like MS Teams, Canvas and Zoom.
In March, educational charity the Harris Federation fell victim to a "highly sophisticated" ransomware attack, leaving about 37,000 students unable to access their email.
Nearly 20 UK-based universities and charities were also affected by a ransomware attack in May, which targeted US-based cloud computing provider Blackbaud. Affected institutions included the University of York, University of London, University of Leeds, University of Reading, Oxford Brookes University, Loughborough University and the University of Birmingham.
British cyber security and data analytics firm CybSafe said in August that ransomware attacks on UK organisations doubled in the first half of 2021, with education being the hardest hit sector.
CybSafe found that ransomware incidents accounted for a third (32 per cent) of all cyber attacks targeting schools and universities in the first six months of 2021, up from 11 per cent a year ago.
Danny Lopez, CEO at Glasswall Solutions, said: "Reports of universities being the victim of cyber attacks have become increasingly common over the last 18-months. It's concerning considering the extensive damage that can be caused in terms of lost data - for both students and staff - and access to vital educational services.
"Whilst NUI Galway has no evidence that data has been compromised at this early stage, the cyber attack will inevitably have a huge impact on productivity. Just as the new university term begins, students and staff have lost access to their campus network, which will undoubtedly affect teaching and access to study resources.
"Educational institutions should adopt a 'defence-in-depth' approach to cybersecurity, as advised by the NCSC. This means using multiple layers of defence with several mitigations, which creates more opportunities to detect malware and prevent it from doing widespread harm to the institution.
"But even when all procedures and policies are well-executed, there's no escaping the fact that adversaries are constantly looking to probe vulnerabilities. Often this is as simple as inserting malware using documents and files shared in their hundreds everyday in an educational environment. It's vital these organisations invest in cyber protection services that stay ahead of attackers by eliminating the threats while still allowing all users to do their vital work."