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What is This Claim About?
A cyberattack at Northumbria University in September may have compromised people’s personal data.
The attack closed the Northumbria University campus, and the school was forced to reschedule exams and extend assessment deadlines for students.
Who’s Eligible?
If the personal information of anyone at Northumbria University is exposed, there could be grounds for claims for data breach compensation. Data Leak Lawyers, which is looking for potential claimants, does not yet know if any information has been exposed.
How Much Compensation Will I Receive?
If the case is successful, Class Members will receive compensation for Northumbria’s failure to control their data.
Any possible award amount would be determined in court.
How Do I Join?
If you believe your information may have been compromised, contact Data Leak Lawyers.
More law firms may be added before a case goes to court.
Those whose information was compromised during the Northumbria University cyberattack in September may be eligible to seek compensation.
The attack closed the Northumbria University campus in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, and the school was forced to reschedule exams, Infosecurity Magazine reported.
The Northumbria University Cyberattack
Northumbria University reportedly announced the first week of September there had been “operational disruptions” in the school’s networks and IT systems.
The school said it was taking “immediate action” to mitigate the effects of the cyberattack and working with specialists who began an investigation.
In a letter to students, Northumbria University said campus access would be temporarily unavailable, as would the student portal and other online services.
Students were assured their assessment deadlines would be extended and they would “not be disadvantaged as a result of lost time or system access,” according to the BBC.
While the nature of the cyberattack was unknown, it appeared to be ransomware, Infosecurity Magazine reported.
It was also not known if data theft was involved in the Northumbria University cyberattack.
Why Are Universities Targeted In Cyberattacks?
The U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre, a part of the Government Communications Headquarters, warned schools after cyberattacks rose at the beginning of the term, according to The Northern Echo.
The alert contained steps schools could take to try to keep cyber criminals at bay.
However, the coronavirus pandemic may be a contributing factor in the rise of cyber attacks since people use home connections to access school systems.
“Cyber criminals target organisations at peak times in their calendar to increase the chances of their ransom demands being met,” Stew Hogg, a cyber expert with Watersons, reportedly told The Northern Echo.
“In the case of universities it is likely that the critical period of ‘clearing’ and the run up to a new academic term will increase the reliance on IT systems and therefore disruption caused may increase the chances of a ransom being paid.”
Hackers have been taking an increased interest in the education sector, according to Infosecurity Magazine; in fact, in addition to Northumbria University, Newcastle University was hit around the same time, the BBC reported. It was not known whether the incidents were connected.
Data from August revealed about a third of universities in the U.K. have been victims of ransomware attacks over the last 10 years, Infosecurity Magazine reported.
Earlier this year, a data breach at Blackbaud, a U.S. IT services company, affected a number of educational and other institutions both in the U.S. and the U.K.
In the Blackbaud cyberattack, which was discovered in May, hackers attempted to lock businesses out of their own servers to prevent them from retrieving data.
Ransomware works either by seizing data and stopping people from accessing it or encrypts the data. The cybercriminals then hold the data for ransom.
Blackbaud paid the ransom and believes no data was further compromised. The company said it believes the information that was stolen won’t be misused or publicly revealed.
The Blackbaud attack was stopped, but not before the hacker removed a copy of the data. The cybercriminal did not get any banking or credit card information, nor did they access Social Security numbers.
Like the Northumbria University cyberattack, the Blackbaud ransomware attack has prompted group litigation in the U.K. and elsewhere.
Kelvin Murray, a senior threat research analyst with Webroot, told Infosecurity Magazine many universities’ networks make them difficult to secure.
“To get to grips with cybersecurity, institutions need to engage cyber-resilience plans to protect their IT infrastructure and data, regardless of the crisis. IT teams must properly audit all machines connected to their networks and the data they hold,” he said.
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