The pc methods of La Sapienza in Rome, one of many largest universities in Europe with round 120,000 college students, have been down for 3 days following an obvious ransomware assault.
In a put up and tales on Instagram printed Tuesday, the college mentioned that it took down its methods out of precaution following the cyberattack, that it was investigating the incident and dealing on restoring all digital providers, and that some communication channels comparable to electronic mail and workstations are “partially restricted.”
The college additionally mentioned that it was working to revive methods primarily based on backups, which weren’t affected by the hack.
As of this writing the Sapienza web site stays down.
Italian every day information outlet Il Corriere della Sera reported this week that the disruption is because of a ransomware assault, one thing that the college nor different authorities have confirmed up to now. The hackers allegedly despatched the college a hyperlink to a request for a ransom, which has a countdown of 72 hours, which might begin solely as soon as the hyperlink is clicked.
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Do you may have extra details about this assault, or the Femwar02 ransomware gang? From a non-work system, you’ll be able to contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Sign at +1 917 257 1382, or through Telegram, Keybase and Wire @lorenzofb, or electronic mail.
La Sapieza didn’t reply to information.killnetswitch’s request for remark despatched through electronic mail. It’s unclear if the college is ready to settle for electronic mail on the time we reached out.
Spokespeople for Italy’s nationwide cybersecurity company, Agenzia per la Cybersicurezza Nazionale (or ACN), which is investigating the incident, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark, asking for extra info and if the assault was brought on by ransomware.
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In one other article on Wednesday, Il Corriere reported that the hacking group behind the assault known as “Femwar02,” which was beforehand unknown previous to this incident. The gang used the BabLock malware, which was found in 2023 and is also called Rorschach, in response to the report.
La Sapienza mentioned that exams are continuing as regular, however college students who need to join exams should accomplish that immediately with professors. The college additionally arrange “infopoints” on a number of places on campus to supply info to college students.
Like different sorts of organizations, universities and colleges are frequent targets of hackers. Final 12 months, the infamous hacking group ShinyHunters hacked Harvard College and College of Pennsylvania and stole information — with out utilizing malware to encrypt its methods — in an effort to extort the faculties. The hackers revealed this week that the faculties didn’t pay the ransom.
