[BreachExchange] Mohawk Valley Community College hit by cyber attack

[Destry Winant]

https://www.uticaod.com/news/20190903/mohawk-valley-community-college-hit-by-cyber-attack

While a “sophisticated” cyber attack on systems at Mohawk Valley
Community College caused some problems, the college does not believe
employee or student data was accessed, according to President Randall
VanWagoner.

In a Sunday, Sept. 1 email, VanWagoner said the college experienced a
“sophisticated cyber attack that forced the shutdown of email service
and several applications throughout the college.”

Due to the nature of the attack, there is no reason to believe that
any personal data was compromised as a result, he added. According to
the statement, the attack occurred Thursday, Aug. 29.

“We understand this has been disruptive to daily internal operations
and external communications,” VanWagoner wrote. “Unfortunately, this
type of attack is increasingly common, which is why we are continuing
to work diligently on protecting and restoring all our systems as
quickly and safely as possible.”

VanWagoner said most of the college’s systems were back up and running
as of Sunday.

The college worked with various information technology, cyber,
forensics, law enforcement and insurance partners during the
investigation, VanWagoner said.

Details on the attack are pending forensic investigation results, MVCC
officials said.