Carleton University‘s IT network was taken over Tuesday, by hackers using ransomeware to demand payment via bitcoin.
The Ottawa university first posted a notice late Tuesday morning advising students of the disruption, calling it “an attempt by an external group or individual to hack into the IT network.”
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Affected users were advised to refrain from accessing the network, including connecting to Wi-Fi or using a printer. They were also advised to shut down their computers.
Network users were instructed to ignore requests for payment, and report them to staff.
Ransomeware blocks legitimate users from a system and demands payment in exchange for a software code or key to regain access.
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While staff and student email was unavailable Wednesday morning, the university remains open and classes are continuing.
This isn’t the first Canadian university hit by hackers — earlier this year the University of Calgary paid $20,000 to cyber attackers to halt a takeover of the the school’s email network.
The university said at the time that it had a responsibility to protect the privacy of its staff and students, and do whatever necessary to restore the accounts.
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“You’re kind of between a rock and a hard place — there is the option of not paying any ransom ever, on principle; or you pay the ransom and possibly get the appropriate means to decrypt your data,” said John Aycock, a security expert in the university’s computer sciences department, told Global News at the time.
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“Of course you’re dealing with criminals, so there is no 100 per cent guarantee.”
Carleton University is posting updates on its hacking situation here.
— With files from Erika Tucker