SFU Ransomware Attack Compromises Personal Info for Students, Faculty & Alumni

Exploit: Ransomware
Company: Simon Fraser University
Industry: Education
Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/sfu-ransomware-attack-1.5483180

A quick response helped Simon Fraser University mitigate the damages of a ransomware attack last week. The Burnaby, BC based educational institution is currently investigating to determine the circumstances surrounding the attack including how many people have been affected.

Thus far we know the breach took place on Thursday, was discovered on Friday and resolved on the same day. SFU’s representatives chose not to reveal if the school elected to pay a ransom but we do know that compromised data includes Student/Employee Full Names, ID numbers, Birthdays, Course Enrollments and encrypted passwords.

In what has become standard protocol during a privacy breach, SFU’s CIO has written a letter encouraging individuals that are presumably affected to reset passwords, monitor personal accounts and memberships for suspicious activity and be aware that the exposed information can lead to more personally targeted attacks. In the meantime, the school will continue to look into the matter further while reviewing their current security measures.

Although initial reports are presuming the breach to affect those that have joined the university prior to June 20, 2019, it would be advisable for all associated to take the same precautions. Whether the leaked data will be used for further ransom leverage against the school, targeted individual attacks or sold on the Dark Web is yet to be seen but the hopes are that SFU has secured the data and can progress with remediation.

It’s important to note that no matter how quickly we are able to respond to an attack or enact a recovery plan, the damages and affects will be costly. Prevention with a focus on awareness training should be an ongoing effort in organizations of all sizes, especially those in highly targeted industries.

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