Editor's note: This article has been updated to include new information made available Thursday, Feb. 8.
WARRENSBURG – The University of Central Missouri experienced an attempted cyber breach this week that has been discovered to be part of a “regional attack.”
After a campus-wide internet outage on Tuesday, Feb. 6, UCM students, faculty and staff were made aware Wednesday morning, Feb. 7 of an attempted cyber breach. Campus technology systems were shut down for safety reasons, leaving everyone on campus without access.
“We have contained the situation and are working with partners including the state of Missouri on resolution,” a Wednesday Facebook post on the university’s official page read.
The university provided updates every few hours on Wednesday in a series of Facebook posts. In those posts, the university stated that so far, no employee or student’s personal information has been compromised. However, the university also encouraged everyone to keep an eye on their personal information as it works alongside the FBI, local law enforcement and state agencies to resolve the problem. As of Wednesday afternoon, UCM stated no one associated with the university has been found in connection to the attempted breach.
Faculty were asked to provide online coursework deadline leniency as students had lost access to the Wi-Fi, VPN and certain school-associated websites such as Blackboard, a course management system, their UCM emails, and the MyCentral student portal. The university said students and staff who still required online access on Wednesday could utilize a computer lab on campus and areas with ethernet connections.
On Thursday morning, Feb. 8, UCM provided another update, stating that Wi-Fi and email systems had been restored.
“We now know that this particular cyber event is a part of a regional attack that is affecting entities in Missouri, Kansas and Illinois,” the Facebook post states. “There continues to be no indication that student and employee personal information has been compromised.”
UCM students, faculty and staff needing technological help should contact the Technology Support Center at 660-543-4357. Students with concerns and questions regarding deadline leniency should reach out to the Office of Academic Affairs at 660-543-4116 or provost@ucmo.edu. Those with facility needs can call Facilities, Planning and Operations at 660-543-4123.
