Hacker groups: Another German university attacked

Some APT groups have specialized in the education sector, as systems there are often outdated or access is easier to obtain. Now Furtwangen University (HFU) has also been hit. The University of Kaiserslautern was hit in July and, according to the attacker, over 240 GB of data was stolen.

Furtwangen University (HFU) doesn’t have much to report. There is currently only a meager indication on the homepage that the school has been relatively paralyzed by a cyber attack. Students and schools only find the note: “Dear students and prospective students, dear employees of Furtwangen University, unfortunately our IT infrastructure has been affected by a hacker attack. Therefore, the university's entire IT infrastructure is currently not available. This also includes email communication and all access for which you need your university login (even from home). In addition to our website, all central services such as FELIX or the libraries are also affected.”

The FAQ section is intended to provide students with answers

Of course, many students have the same questions about what happened next. At least there are short answers to this in an FAQ section

• What happened: The IT infrastructure of Furtwangen University was the target of a cyber attack on September 18th. According to initial findings, data was encrypted or deleted. As an initial measure, all systems were taken offline.
• What measures were taken: The university management called together a group of experts on Monday to examine the situation. For security reasons, all HFU systems were shut down. Important contact persons and institutions have been informed.
• What happens next?: The university management will provide regular information via this page. It should be noted that only reliable information is communicated via this site.

More and more universities are being attacked

Many colleges and universities are increasingly being targeted by cyberattacks. Overall, the education sector is increasingly under fire. This is also proven by the numbers from Malwarebytes. Malwarebytes was able to detect a total of 2022 known ransomware attacks on educational institutions between June 2023 and May 190. Between the first and second half of this period, the number of attacks increased by 84 percent.

However, the attackers don't seem to be getting any money from many victims, as data is being leaked more and more often on the dark web. Many companies that pay often disappear from the leak sites. Fortunately, not as many companies or other victims pay.

Already At the end of July, the Kaiserslautern University of Applied Sciences was also shut down. According to their homepage, they are still “picking up the pieces”. On the homepage you can read: “We will now again analyze and verify the data, the leak of which we are now aware of through publication on the darknet.” According to the APT group Rhysida and its ransomware of the same name, they claim to have stolen over 240 GB of data from the Kaiserslautern University of Applied Sciences.

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