A ransomware attack struck the Hawaiʻi Community College

A new cybercriminal operation has included the Hawaiʻi Community College in the latest list of ransomware-affected academic institutions. The school announced earlier this week that it suffered an attack after forcing its network to shut down temporarily. Moreover, this community college notified the federal authorities about the ransomware incident.

The college is only a two-year-old academic institution in a state school system with campuses in two Hawaii towns. The school currently serves over 2,500 students.

A school representative disclosed that their institutions are working with third-party security researchers and federal authorities to investigate and address the situation. They have started working together after receiving notice about the attack earlier this month.

 

The University of Hawai’i got the information first before the Hawaiʻi Community College.

 

Based on the report, the Hawaiʻi Community College received notification about the issue from the University of Hawai’i.

A third-party security service provider allegedly responded immediately and took the Hawaii CC network offline to contain the attack. Hawaiʻi Community College is the only UH academic institution in the attack by the group that claims responsibility. Moreover, the security researchers in charge of the attack believe that the attack impacts no other UH campuses.

The Hawaiian institution has yet to reveal further information about the ransomware campaign or whether they will negotiate with the attackers. A recent tally showed that ransomware attacks had targeted at least 49 secondary-level schools in the United States. 43 of the 49 schools’ lost data in the process. In addition, five universities that employed MOVEit have suffered a ransomware attack.

The ransomware attack against Hawaiʻi Community College is the latest addition to other announced attacks against academic institutions worldwide. Ransomware groups have also targeted large universities in Germany, the United Kingdom, and several parts of the United States.

Hawaiʻi Community College has then released a final statement regarding the ones responsible for the attack. The school claimed it suffered an attack by a ransomware group called NoEscape. The gang also included the school on its data leak site, claiming it acquired gigabytes of data.