Northeastern State University (NSU) recently reported a significant network disruption due to a cybersecurity incident. In response, the university’s IT team took the swift and sweeping measure of disabling the entire network to investigate and address the issue.
The public was first alerted to the situation on May 29, when NSU began sharing updates via email and social media platforms. The university’s IT team had initially become aware of the cybersecurity incident early on May 26, which had greatly impacted the network.
Jennifer Zehnder, NSU Communications director, stated that the network was disabled at 4:30 a.m. on May 26 as a precautionary measure. External consultants were brought in to assist with the investigation. “At this time, our consultants have found no evidence that NSU data has been stolen,” said Zehnder.
However, a new development has added a twist to the situation. The threat actor known as Rhysida has listed NSU and posted screenshots of what it claims to be stolen data from the university. Furthermore, Rhysida is inviting bids for this data, escalating the seriousness of the incident.
Despite this, NSU’s IT team is continuing to work diligently to safely reconnect enterprise systems and servers. Zehnder assured the public that “systems are coming online at an appropriate pace based on established priorities.”
NSU’s Vice President for University Relations, Dan Mabery, emphasized the extent of the network shutdown. “This means that nothing remained connected to the network, which has resulted in challenges for everyone, including those seeking transcripts over the past few days,” Mabery said.
Mabery confirmed that network and internet-based services are being gradually restored, but warned that this process takes time. Despite the disruption and the newly emerged threat from Rhysida, Mabery assured students that “it is possible that transcript services will be available early next week. Students should expect to start classes as scheduled.
