Vanderbilt campus reopens Wi-Fi and key apps after cybersecurity breach

Vanderbilt University restored campus Wi-Fi access and reopened several core digital tools for students, staff, and faculty on Tuesday morning, November 10. The university said these systems are now available following a cybersecurity incident that forced a temporary shutdown of network access the previous day.

The breach prompted the university to ask its community to power down university-owned devices and disconnect from the network on Monday. The incident affected university devices, systems, and cloud-based services. Vanderbilt Information Technology is currently investigating the event and working to contain it. The university stated that its efforts to manage the situation have limited standard communications channels.

On Monday evening, Vanderbilt confirmed that the campus Wi-Fi was back online. However, access to most other systems and applications remained restricted at that time. The university acknowledged the disruption in a statement on Facebook, noting that the issue caused frustration and interrupted important work. It also confirmed that the university is coordinating with government agencies and other partners to address the threat.

Classes proceeded on a normal schedule on Tuesday. Teachers taught as planned, and student services operated as usual. The Student Care Network offices were open and holding appointments. The university advised students to reach out to their instructors for guidance on work deadlines or other course-specific adjustments. Faculty with grant submissions due that week were directed to contact Susan Marguiles, the Vice Provost for Research and Innovation, whose team is providing support for timely filings.

As of Tuesday morning, the university listed the following systems as available for use: Okta, which requires multi-factor authentication; Vanderbilt email via Outlook on both university and personal devices; Brightspace; Zoom; and YES, or Your Enrollment Services. Sophomore class registration is proceeding as scheduled through the YES platform. The university specified that all other systems and applications, including CampusPrint, remain restricted.

Vanderbilt Health, which is legally and financially separate from the university, stated that it is aware of the possible incident. The health system reported that its IT systems have not been impacted so far, though it continues to monitor the situation closely. Patient care continued at all hospital and clinical locations during the response.

The university instructed community members to report any suspicious activity to the IT Service Desk at 615-343-9999. Users were told to look for unexpected pop-ups, changes to files or cloud storage, unfamiliar applications, or requests for passwords and authentication approvals. Those who noticed unusual activity were advised not to click links or attachments and not to troubleshoot the issue themselves. Instead, they were told to shut down their device immediately and report the problem using a separate device or by phone.

Vanderbilt planned to provide further updates on the status of systems and applications by 9 a.m. on Tuesday. The university said the restoration of access to personal accounts, including Google accounts, was part of the initial reopening on Tuesday morning.