Vanderburg Cloud Systems Hit in Cyberattack

Vanderbilt University confirmed on Monday, November 11, that a network hack has compromised specific cloud storage platforms, including Microsoft OneDrive and Box. The breach puts student coursework and faculty research materials at risk while the institution works to contain the intrusion.

University IT officials stated that normal operations across all systems will not be restored for multiple weeks. In a statement released at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, November 12, the university said it is making progress with containment measures. The update noted that systems will be restored in a deliberate and secure manner as work progresses.

Following a campus-wide lockdown message sent on Monday, IT has approved certain digital tools for safe use. As of the most comprehensive update shared on Tuesday, campus Wi-Fi, Zoom, email, printing, and the cloud-based course management tool Brightspace are considered secure. VUIT continues to focus on determining what data may have been accessed.

Raisa Rexer, a tenured professor of Romance languages, cultures and diasporas, described the confusion surrounding device safety. She has not connected her Vanderbilt-issued laptop to the internet since Sunday, November 9, due to unclear guidance. Rexer noted that some campus computers were taken away, while others remained in classrooms with handwritten IT instructions posted on chalkboards.

“My colleague logged into a university computer yesterday to teach his class and it was corrupted,” Rexer said. “He was under the impression that computers remaining inside the university were not corrupted. So I don’t want to risk it.” She is currently teaching from handwritten notes and using her phone to connect with a guest speaker.

Rexer also highlighted the uncertainty regarding her research files stored in Box and OneDrive. “On Monday, minutes separated me from logging into the Vanderbilt Wi-Fi and not logging in,” she said. “I saw the warning email on my phone so my computer never connected to the network. I was able to salvage very little downloaded onto my computer.”

The university missed a self-imposed Wednesday morning deadline to share a new update but issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon, November 12. The school said it is coordinating with law enforcement and government agencies. Representatives stated that business capabilities, such as payroll and public safety, have been prioritized in the response.

A former Vanderbilt employee has filed a class-action suit against the school related to the cyberattack. The university declined to share specific hacker demands with the public, directing inquiries to a dedicated cybersecurity incident updates page.