Manchester University Hacked

Manchester University has become the latest victim of a wave of cyber attacks directed against British businesses and education institutions. 

The university has said data has probably been copied and they warns staff and students that they have suffered an attack where unknown threat actors have likely stolen data from the university's network.

The University of Manchester is a public research institute and one of the UK's largest and most successful education and research centres, with over 10,000 staff and 45,000 students. It is not yet clear what information has been accessed by the attackers, but staff and students have been advised to watch out for any suspicious emails.

“During the week commencing 6 June, we found out that the University is the victim of a cyber incident. It has been confirmed that some of our systems have been accessed by an unauthorised party and data have likely been copied,” says the University on its website.

In a statement, the university revealed that some of its systems had been accessed by an unauthorised party and data copied. 

Students were told that the university’s IT teams and external cyber support were working to establish what data has been compromised. “Our in-house experts and established expert external support are working around the clock to resolve this incident... We are working to understand what data have been accessed and will update you as more information becomes available,” according to Patrick Hackett the Registrar and Chief Operating Officer.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and National Crime Agency are among the authorities working with the university's own experts to resolve the incident.

The university and the NCSC have warned all those potentially impacted should be "vigilant" of phishing emails - a common tactic used by internet fraudsters to scam people. statement said: "We are working to understand what data have been accessed and will update you as more information becomes available." The university has apologised to its community for the breach, which is being investigated. "Our priority is to resolve this issue and provide information to those affected as soon as we are able to, and we are focusing all available resources," it added. 

There is no suggestion about who is responsible for the attack and whether any sensitive research or personal data has been stolen at this stage. 

Manchester Univ:   Manchester Univ;   Sky:     Bleeping Computer:   BBC:   Computer Weekly:     

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