The University of Michigan has taken all of its systems and services offline to deal with a cybersecurity incident, causing a widespread impact on online services on the eve of the new school year.
University of Michigan (U-M) is one of the oldest and largest educational institutes in the United States, employing over 30,000 academic and administrative staff and having roughly 51,000 students.
According to announcements published on the University’s website, a cybersecurity incident caused IT outages and disrupted access to vital online services, including Google, Canvas, Wolverine Access, and email.
Although U-M engaged its IT team to restore the impacted systems, the administration felt it was safest to disconnect the U-M network from the internet due to the severity of the incident.
This includes wired and WiFi campus internet, M-Pathways, eResearch, DART, and all systems used in student registration.
Zoom, Adobe Cloud, Dropbox, Slack, Google, Canvas, and Adobe Cloud services have been restored and can be accessed from outside networks, although their availability is unstable due to overload.
The attack occurred on the eve of a new academic year as students and faculty were preparing to start classes. So, the U-M administration has decided to waive late registration or disenrollment fees for August.
Students rely on the currently offline systems to access class information and to navigate the large campus, especially during the initial days of classes. Due to the lack of access, students will be given special consideration to students for attendance and assignments.
The announcement also warns that some financial aid payments and refunds will be delayed due to the IT outage.
U-M notes that it is working with external cybersecurity experts and federal law enforcement to investigate the attack.
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