University Cyberattack

The University of California is warning its students and staff that a ransomware group might have stolen and published their personal data, and that of hundreds of other schools, government agencies and companies, nationwide.

A cyberattack targeted a vulnerability in Accellion, a third-party vendor used to securely transfer files, the university said Wednesday.

Purandar Das is CEO and co-founder of Sotero.

“The escalation of attacks on educational institutions is an interesting one,” he said. “First off, these are not new or unique. They are a continuation of the attacks on organizations in general. There may be a couple of reasons behind the recent rise. One, they may be a result of some of the vulnerabilities in third-party software that has impacted many organizations across a range of industries. Second, this is the peak admission season for colleges and universities. This is when their systems are stressed and they are also coming into possession of new student information. Think of the millions of high school students and their parents that are becoming a part of this world along with their sensitive information ranging from Social Security numbers, credit card info, bank account information and financial assets. Makes for ripe pickings.”

Schools tend to keep their educational and grading systems well-protected, Das said. They need to do the same with students’ private information.