The University of Manchester has revealed that a “small proportion of data” was accessed by a “criminal entity” during a cyber attack.
It stated that based on its own investigations: “a small proportion of data has been copied that relates to some students, and some alumni. We have written directly to those individuals who may have been affected by this.”
The cyber attack happened on 9th June , with the university informing the stock market that it had detected “unauthorised activity on its network.” A few days later it confirmed that some of its systems had been accessed and data was likely to have been copied.
All staff and students were required to reset passwords and access to VPN services on university IT accounts had been revoked.
Today the university stated that it wanted to “assure our community” that internal and external experts were still working “around the clock” to address it and investigations were continuing.
It added that it was working with the Information Commissioner’s Office, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the National Crime Agency and other regulatory bodies on the attack.
“We are asking all staff and students to remain vigilant of any suspicious emails, including those that appear to come from those responsible for this incident. Do not engage with or reply to these emails in any way,” read the statement.
