University of Sunderland Hit by Suspected Cyber-Attack

University of Sunderland Hit by Suspected Cyber-Attack

A UK university has suffered a suspected cyber-attack, causing "extensive IT issues."





The University of Sunderland revealed the incident on its official Twitter account this morning, which stated: "our telephone lines, website and IT systems are still down." The institution first reported it was experiencing IT problems yesterday (12 October) and has now said it "has all the hallmarks of a cyber-attack."





A local newspaper, the Sunderland Echo, reported that all online classes had been canceled, and staff members faced difficulties accessing their emails. In addition, the University of Sunderland's official website remains down.





The university said that it is working with the police to try and resolve the problem and will continue face-to-face teaching as much as possible.



The full statement read: "We intend to continue face to face teaching as far as possible and will continue to update our staff and students, as well as continue working with the police.





"We take the security of our systems extremely seriously and we will resolve this as quickly as we can. We ask that prospective students direct message any inquiries in the meantime and that current students email [email protected].





"Thank you for your patience."





The suspected cyber-incident follows a surge of attacks targeting schools, universities and colleges during the COVID-19 crisis. These include damaging attacks on two other universities in the North-East of England last year, Newcastle University and  university sunderland suspected cyber attack