University of Management and Technology (UMT), has recently been hit by a ransomware attack.
The hack has disrupted the university’s online database and ERP system, which has jeopardized a plethora of its internal services.
UMT is reportedly facing difficulties accessing various operations, including course registration, fee challan generation, attendance tracking, and grading transcript management.
Sources said that the university data center was damaged by a ransomware virus which impacted the system and operations.
The information of thousands of students and employees remains at risk.
As per an internal memo sourced by ProPakistani, the attackers targeted UMT’s data center which had a significant impact on their systems and operations. It adds that:
Our dedicated OTE staff has been working tirelessly to save and cleanse the data affected by the attack. They are currently focused on restoring critical services such as student and faculty portals, Learning Management Systems (LMS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) services, and the attendance system.
UMT promised that the services would be recovered in a matter of a few days, but it has been allegedly nearly a month since the attack and the systems remain inaccessible.
Ransomware is a type of malware that locks and encrypts a victim’s data, files, devices, or systems, rendering them inaccessible and unusable until the attacker receives a ransom payment.
For now, the hackers’ identity and the extent of the damage remain uncertain.
The Public Relations officer at UMT told ProPakistani that the university’s systems were taken down as a result of the ransomware attack, but are now being brought back gradually. He claims that student registrations and other systems are up and running once again and no data has been breached.
Globally, ransomware groups have increased their attacks against governments, specific high-profile organizations, or selective groups of people within an organization.
This has also disclosed a multinational cybersecurity and anti-virus provider company Kaspersky in its latest research which shows a surge in the number of targeted ransomware groups globally by 30% from 2022 to 2023.
In parallel to this increase, the number of victims of targeted ransomware attacks spiked by 70% within the same time period, it mentioned.