Tennessee-based Austin Peay State University had its systems impacted by a ransomware attack on Wednesday, reports The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
In a series of tweets, the school warned its students and faculty members to immediately shut down their computers and disconnect computers connected to its network.
"The Universitys Information Technology staff are investigating the incident at this time and believes they have contained the threat. There are no plans to alter university schedules at this time, as today was the last day of classes. Tomorrow is a study day, with exams starting Friday," said Austin Peay State University Executive Director Bill Persinger.
Austin Peay State University will be the 12th university or college across the U.S. hit by a ransomware attack this year, with 10 of the previous attacks involving data theft, according to Emsisoft Threat Analyst Brett Callow. Meanwhile, Recorded Future expert Allan Liska said that universities and colleges will be facing more attacks this year than in 2021.
"Like primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities struggle and lack the budget and staff to properly secure themselves against the onslaught of ransomware attacks," said Liska.
Such malware compromise, which was only identified in late September, has impacted login information, names, phone numbers, emails, shipping and billing addresses, and payment card details with CVV codes and expiration dates belonging to individuals who had visited the SelectBlinds website's check-out page.
"Investigations into the incident are continuing, however, the Company is confident that no customer systems data has been compromised," said Microlise in an incident update, which has noted "substantial progress" in thwarting the network threat.
Attackers behind the Singtel breach utilized a web shell, noted sources close to the matter. Such a webshell was previously reported by Lumen researchers to have been planted on an anonymous Singaporean entity to secure credentials that were later used to infiltrate four U.S.-based organizations and an India-based entity.