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$457,000 Paid By The University Of Utah To Save Students Data From Hackers

WastedLocker ransomware
WastedLocker ransomware

A ransomware attack was identified at the University of Utah recently. It is also said that the University of Utah paid around $457,000 to free their data from the hackers. The hackers were keen to release the university’s important files.

This data security incident was posted by the officials of the University of Utah on 19th July 2020. The incident was posted on a Sunday evening.

The officials of the University addressed that, “On Sunday, July 19, 2020, the university’s College of Social and Behavioral Science (CSBS) was notified by the university’s Information Security Office (ISO) of a ransomware attack on CSBS computing servers. Content on the compromised CSBS servers was encrypted by an unknown entity and no longer accessible by the college,”

The servers of Social And Behavioral Science Department were encrypted during this attack.

Hackers are said to have stolen encrypted data from computers.

The year 2019 has seen a tremendous increase in ransomware attacks all over the world. The hackers are always asking for a huge ransom amount before the free the data of the victim.

However, it is quite unsure that even after paying the ransom your data will be secure or not.

Previously, the same incident has taken place in the University of California San Francisco. The universities have no choice other than paying the ransom.

The files which are been encrypted by these hackers contain special information about the employees and the students. Hackers have the power of threatening the university with the files.

The University of Utah stated, “After careful consideration, the university decided to work with its cyber insurance provider to pay a fee to the ransomware attacker. This was done as a proactive and preventive step to ensure information was not released on the internet,”

The officials of the university also stated that they have not used any tuition, grant, donation, state or taxpayer funds to clear the ransom payment.