Concerns at Laurentian University about impact of cyber incident

It’s day 10 of no access to WiFi, email and information technology services at Laurentian University.

The president of the university’s staff union said the cyber incident that shut down access to IT services has left staff frustrated.

“In the last 10-plus years, we have tried to go away from paper and more digital,” said Tom Fenske, LUSU president.

 “So all of a sudden if you lose all your digital and your access to it, it’s quite frustrating to try to get the job done but people are working diligently to try to do what we do best is to support the students.”

Fenske said staff are also worried about what information may have been taken.

“There is an air of frustration to find out you know exactly what information was targeted,” he said.

“And my understanding is that soon we are going to be able to find that information out. I think that is what is most worrisome for right now is what were those people after or what was this person after when you know they hacked our system.”

A first-year zoology student shared concerns about the type of information that may have been targeted.

“What if someone does a cyber attack and steals data or something from the students from the database,” said student Jesse Waugh.

“Like, that is kinda’ terrifying because I don’t want my personal information being taken by someone you know who could have bad intentions.”

LU will host another town hall meeting Friday via zoom to update the situation.

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