Ransom paid to hackers of NUIG alumni information

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – At least four investigations are underway after a database containing personal information about NUI Galway alumni, was accessed without authorisation by hackers.

An undisclosed ransom was paid to the cyber criminals, who accessed the database of information including contact details of supporters of NUIG and Galway University Foundation, a charity that raises funds for the university from graduates and supporters.

The cyber attack occurred in May on Blackbaud Inc, which is a private company that provides a third party database to NUIG and the Foundation.

The Data Protection Commissioner launched an investigation, and it’s understood that the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau is also probing the security incident. Blackbaud has carried out its own internal inquiry and NUIG said it would continue to work with the company to investigate.

At the time of going to print, NUIG had not confirmed the extent of the hacking, specifically in relation to how many ex-NUIG people’s personal information was accessed.

Asked why the people whose information was potentially accessed by the hackers, were only alerted to the incident two months after it occurred the Press Office said it was “only recently notified” of the breach.

NUIG said that information that was accessed by the hackers included: names; contact information including telephone numbers, email addresses, and mailing addresses; and a history of alumni and supporters’ relationships with the organisation up to May 2020. Student data was not involved, NUIG said.

The incident has affected several universities and other Blackbaud not-for-profit clients internationally.

Blackbaud said that it “discovered and stopped” a ransomware attack on its database in May, which was designed to disrupt NUIG and other companies by locking them out of their own data and servers.
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