NEWS - Government Security Warning After QUB Cyber Attack
The Department for the Economy (DfE) issued an emergency warning to its entire staff yesterday after an ‘cyber-attack’ on Queen’s University last week.
The attack left students shut out of key University systems, including emails and Canvas, for over 8 hours
The warning was sent to over 500 DfE staff
An ‘Urgent Cyber Security Update’, leaked to The Scoop, advised more than 500 DfE employees to be on ‘heightened alert’ for suspicious emails from Queen’s University contacts. The email further cautioned that departments with IT links to QUB should ‘assess any implications to their data’.
This move from the DfE suggests ongoing concern about the security implications of last week’s cyber-attack, although QUB say they ‘support’ other organisations taking precautionary measures.
The University added they are still investigating the incident, despite telling students last week that the ‘technical difficulties’ which caused the IT black-out had been ‘resolved’.
According to the University, ‘there is currently no evidence’ of student data having been stolen and ‘robust security measures’ were in place.
However, some key QUB IT services have been undergoing ‘urgent maintenance’ for more than a week, including Citrix, an online software that allows remote workers to access University documents from home.
The University has also told students that ‘these kind of attacks against large organisations are not uncommon’. Many other UK universities have been victims of cyber-attacks in recent years.
Queen’s University is regarded as a UK leader in cyber security education, recently winning silver recognition from The National Cyber Security Centre.
The University says it “takes seriously its responsibility to protect its systems and data and seeks to follow best practice in this area”.
Thomas Copeland, Head of News