Read Time:1 Minute, 43 Second
The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) recently fell prey to a ransomware attack. The attack affected QUT’s primary services last Thursday—the University is still actively investigating the case.
The second-largest University in Queensland was attacked last week. The attack was believed to be ‘Royal Ransomware’, which caused all of the printers on the campus to continuously print out ransomware notes until the paper in the printer ran out.
The printed note stated that the attack hit the University because it decided to save money on its cybersecurity infrastructure. It further noted that QUT’s critical data was encrypted and copied, ready for sale to would-be threat actors in the darknet. The hackers are asking for royalty payments in exchange for the data captured.
According to Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Sheil, her printer was one of the affected printers, “In my case, it printed out until there was no more paper in my printer.” She added that royal ransomware was a well-known ransomware scheme.
American authorities recently released a cautionary note to healthcare departments regarding this type of ransomware, indicating that it is a newer scheme and very little is known about it. However, it is known that the malicious software is available on demand as a ransomware-as-a-service business, and anyone looking to utilise it can gain access quickly.
The University is still actively investigating the attack, and preventive measures have been launched. QUT shut down all of its IT systems as a precaution.
The university spokesperson added, “As a precaution, QUT IT systems have been taken offline while investigations are completed. At this stage, we assess that no student or staff data has been compromised.”
QUT also added that staff and students have already been notified of the incident, and students wanting to accept their QTAC offer should wait until all university systems are online. The spokesperson added that they should be back online by the time the school reopens on 3 January, and if anyone needs access to the campus, they should bring their IDs.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0
