Cyber attack: More on the data accessed

23 Jun 2023

Further to our previous communications on the cyber attack, we now understand some more about the data that has been accessed by a criminal entity.

Based on our investigations we believe that a small proportion of data has been copied that relates to some students, and some alumni. We have written directly to those individuals who may have been affected by this. 

We understand that this will create concern for some, but please be assured that we are working around the clock to continue to address this.  

Continued support for you 

We would encourage all our staff and colleagues to take up the offer of the 12-month subscription with Experian (https://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/news/display/?id=29956) which we emailed details of earlier this week. The Experian offer provides identity monitoring support, focusing on identifying and resolving identity theft.

 
The email sent earlier in the week contains an activation code to begin your subscription.  

Our support for your wellbeing (https://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/wellbeing/resources/cyber-incident/) of course continues and, we would encourage students to also speak with their Academic Advisor if they feel that their studies are being affected in any way.

 
Our cyber incident information page (https://www.manchester.ac.uk/cyber-incident/)will also continue to be updated, so please reference this as the first point of call for any ongoing information. 

Continued vigilance 

As we know you already will be, please continue to remain vigilant of any suspicious emails, including those that appear to come from those responsible for this incident. Do not engage with or reply to these emails in any way. Our email filtering software is doing its job well and catching many of these, but if you do receive anything at all suspicious, do report it to IT Services (https://www.itservices.manchester.ac.uk/cybersecurity/advice/phishing/) straight away.

 
Continued work to resolve 

Our teams are working around the clock on this live incident, which continues to evolve. Thank you to every one of our University community for your continued patience and resilience. It is hugely appreciated.  
 

Patrick Hackett 
Registrar, Secretary and Chief Operating Officer