Paris-Saclay University was the victim of a ransomware cyber attack on Sunday, a week after a similar attack targeted the Grand Palais as well as around forty French museums.
Paris-Saclay University was the victim of a ransomware cyberattack on Sunday, the prestigious institution said, whose website was inaccessible on Tuesday.
“A ransomware cyberattack hit the University of Paris-Saclay on 11/08/2024,” the institution reported on the X social network.
A ransomware cyberattack hit the University of Paris-Saclay on 11/08/2024.
The University of Paris-Saclay is supported by the National Agency for Security of Information Systems (ANSSI) to deal with this incident.— University of Paris-Saclay (@UnivParisSaclay) August 12, 2024
A crisis unit has been set up, he told AFP, without further detailing the fallout from the cyber attack.
The university states that “it is supported by the National Information Systems Security Agency (ANSSI) to deal with this incident. Contacted by AFP, ANSSI did not provide any other details.
In 2023, the University of Paris-Saclay ranked 15th in the Shanghai ranking, making it the first continental European institution in the ranking. The 2024 edition of this list, published each year on August 15, will be revealed on Thursday morning.
Created in 2020, the facility is a French flagship that attracts a number of foreign students to its huge American-style campus located about twenty kilometers south of Paris.
Wave of computer attacks
The cyber attack against the university was detected a week after another ransomware attack that targeted the Grand Palais in Paris, where the Olympic Games events were held, and about forty French museums.
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The perpetrators targeted the system that allows the “centralization of financial data” of brands located in these places, demanding a ransom and threatening to disseminate the encrypted data, according to a police source.
Ransomware exploits an organization's or individual's security vulnerabilities to encrypt and lock their computer systems, demanding a ransom to unlock them.