A Ransomware Attack Permanently Shut Down A College In The US
The institution, named after President Abraham Lincoln, was established on his birthday in 1865 and is one of the few rural American colleges that are categorised as predominantly Black institutions by the Department of Education.
US¡¯s Lincoln College today has become the first US institution of higher learning to shut down in part after a massive ransomware attack that crippled its operations.
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Reported first by NBC News this was revealed via a goodbye note posted on the school¡¯s website stated how it managed to survive both World Wars, the Spanish flu as well as the Great Depression but all it took was a severe ransomware attack combined with the novel coronavirus pandemic that took months to be fixed.
It revealed that the institution was a victim of a cyberattack in December 2021 that ¡°thwarted admissions activities and hindered access to all institutional data, creating an unclear picture of Fall 2022 enrollment projections,¡± as written in the goodbye note.
The ransomware attack shut down all systems that were required for recruitment, retention and fundraising efforts. The attack however didn¡¯t result in any exposure of personal identifying data of any student.
The systems were made operable by March 2022 but it also saw considerable shortfalls in enrollment, requiring a transformational donation or partnership to help Lincoln College survive beyond the current semester.
The institution, named after President Abraham Lincoln, was established on his birthday in 1865 and is one of the few rural American colleges that are categorised as predominantly Black institutions by the Department of Education.
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The institution announced its closure on March 29, and had its final commencement on Sunday. The shutdown of the institution has been very stressful not just for local students but especially for international students who now need to be enrolled in a college to get a visa to stay in the US.
Kim Milford, the director of the Research and Education Networks Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC), a nonprofit industry group that helps member colleges to collectively fight and stay informed about cyberthreats, said in a statement to NBC News, ¡°I feel really bad for Lincoln College and wish there was some way we could help, but it can be a very expensive proposition when you¡¯re hit by ransomware.¡±
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