Stratford University Suffers Ransomware Attack, Data Breach Affects Over 78,000 Individuals

Stratford University, a private university in Virginia, has been the victim of a ransomware attack that resulted in a data breach affecting over 78,000 individuals. The attack occurred on August 27, 2022, and was discovered by the university on August 26, 2022.

Victim Profile

Stratford University is a four-year college with campuses in Virginia, Maryland, and India. The institution has a student body of around 1,240 undergraduates and 137 post-graduates, and employs more than 641 people, generating approximately $75 million in annual revenue.

Vulnerabilities and Impact

The ransomware attack resulted in an unauthorized party gaining access to sensitive student and employee information, including first and last names, phone numbers, addresses, email addresses, dates of birth, student identification numbers, passport numbers, and Social Security numbers. The breach affected 78,692 individuals, and Stratford University sent out data breach letters to all those impacted.

Response and Mitigation

Upon discovering the attack, Stratford University retained legal counsel and began working with a third-party forensics firm to assist with the investigation. The university has not disclosed whether it paid the ransom demanded by the attackers.

Previous Attacks

Stratford University has been the target of multiple ransomware attacks in 2022, although it is unclear which specific incident the data breach notice refers to. The university closed its operations at the end of the Fall 2022 semester after losing its accreditation.

Industry Context

Ransomware attacks on educational institutions have been on the rise, with at least 35 colleges and universities in the U.S. being hit in 2022. The FBI has reported that Russian cybercrime forums are teeming with the network credentials and virtual private network accesses of employees from U.S. colleges and universities.

Stratford University's ransomware attack and subsequent data breach highlight the increasing threat of cyber attacks on educational institutions. The university's response and mitigation efforts, as well as its vulnerabilities, provide insights into the challenges faced by institutions in the education sector in protecting their data and systems.

Sources

• Stratford University Reports Data Breach Affecting the Over 78k Individuals
• Stratford University Announces Data Breach as It Closes Shop