NEW ORLEANS — Computer networks on the University of New Orleans campus are slowly coming back online.
Friday, UNO detected what the school called “indicators of compromise” and took systems offline to implement security measures.
This weekend, students did not have access to many of the school’s online services, including email and Moodle, a web-based learning platform used by students and faculty.
"Now all of our classes were pushed back,” UNO senior history major August Hewitt said. “We couldn’t access Moodle at all this weekend. So, for some people that are trying to graduate like I am, it’s kind of tough. It’s really pushing us back.”
“Emails were down, so we couldn’t really be in touch with the community with the campus, so the only thing that was actually available was the actual website,” UNO senior physics major Cameron Williams said.
According to UNO, as of Monday morning, the university’s Wi-Fi network, email, Moodle, and Zoom had been restored.
UNO President John Nicklow put out a statement saying in part, “I want our campus community to know that this is a complex process in which we are incrementally bringing services back online as safely and quickly as possible.”
“I’m happy that the university was able to handle this and relatively remedied the situation so that I could actually continue with finishing up schoolwork. If anything, it pushed back deadlines,” Hewitt said.
Four other state colleges and universities, including Nunez Community College in Chalmette, were also hit by cyber threats.
A spokesperson for Nunez Community College says the school will continue to work and hold classes remotely but anticipate a return to normal operations later in the week.
“Progress continues toward full restoration of Nunez's network after the college dismantled its own system proactively to successfully negate a cyber incident. A second remote day has been enacted in order to prevent disruptions to the crucial work being performed on-campus by the Nunez IT Department,” the community college said in a statement released Monday evening.
Last month, Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond also had some sort of cyber incident on campus.
Cameron Williams is also taking a Quantum Physics class virtually at SLU.
"They were down for two weeks,” Williams said. “That kind of really sucked for that class because that class is pretty difficult.”
The other schools impacted by cyber shutdowns include River Parishes Community College, Southern University at Shreveport, and the LSU Agricultural Center.
The Governor’s Office of Homeland Security released this statement:
“The institutions elected to perform these improvements following investigative efforts by the Louisiana State Police Cyber Crime Unit that found potential indicators of compromise within the networks. Forensic and investigative efforts are continuing with Louisiana State Police Cyber Crime Unit. These restorative activities were coordinated between the institutions and state cybersecurity experts to minimize potential risks and impacts to the schools’ respective communities. Each school will provide updates through its social media and/or emergency alert platforms in near-time as progress is made on each individual network. Services at each school will be brought back online as quickly and as safely as possible.”
Here is UNO President John Nicklow’s full statement:
“I am encouraged by the progress we are making in restoring services, and I am so grateful for the incredible work of our IT professionals and our cybersecurity partners with the Governor’s Office. I want our campus community to know that this is a complex process in which we are incrementally bringing services back online as safely and quickly as possible. In particular, I want our students to know that we will work to support them through this disruption. We appreciate their patience.”
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