The University of Winnipeg plans to find out how it ended up being the victim of a cyberattack and what it can do to prevent it from happening again — but not before it getting all of its systems back up and running again.
A forensics analysis report is expected to be completed in several weeks, the university’s president Todd Mondor said Monday during a virtual town hall meeting, once the systems that were shut down following the cyberattack are restored.
“We will be doing a full forensic analysis of how the breach happened, how the threat actor was able to gain entrance to the system and damage it, and if there are steps we can take to mitigate against … any similar action in the future,” said Mondor.
The school has pushed back its exam period and move-out date for students living on campus after it announced last week that a “threat actor” gained entrance to the university’s systems, and that the university took down its network to protect its data.
Since then, it’s been trying to restore access to the systems students rely on, but some of them, like its online learning management system, Nexus, and its online hub that contains students’ registration and tuition information, WebAdvisor, remain inaccessible.
Getting those two systems back up is the priority.
“Right now, all hands are on deck to remediate the damage that’s been done,” Mondor said.
The school is advising students and staff that they will soon be asked to reset their passwords. Once that happens, the university’s chief information officer Kim Benoit said that’s when they’ll try to restore Nexus and WebAdvisor.
“We now need your help with this critical step,” she said at the town hall.
“Your quick response will shorten the time needed to have systems restored safely.”
Seeking U-Pass extension
Dr. Pavlina Radia, the school’s vice-president academic, said the university is working with the University of Winnipeg Students’ Association to get the U-Pass, a discounted Winnipeg Transit pass available to post-secondary students, extended. The pass is normally valid until April 30, coinciding with the end of exams.
The exam period has been pushed back to start April 18 and end May 2. New exam schedules are expected to be released early Tuesday morning.
She also said she doesn’t expect the spring term’s start date — May 6 — to be impacted. Registration for the spring term can begin once WebAdvisor is available.
Mondor said the school is doing what it can to get systems running as quickly as possible.
“We’re confident that as we bring systems back online, they will be safe to use and they’re not providing another opening for a threat actor, the same or different, to gain entrance to the system.”
Students are asked to stay updated on the situation by checking the school’s website.