600,000 LMU students affected by hacker attack – systems partially restored
A cyberattack on Ludwig Maximilians University Munich has exposed personal data of approximately 600,000 current and former students. The university has resumed enrolment systems following security reviews.
Large-scale data theft at Munich excellence university
According to Ludwig Maximilians University (LMU), approximately 600,000 people were affected by a hacker attack, as reported by Süddeutsche Zeitung. The compromised datasets originate from current and former students over a period of about 50 years.
Access to master data was exposed on 16 September by an external attacker. Besides names, addresses and telephone numbers, the compromised data partly includes financial information, health insurance details and other personal information. For datasets dating to 1994, only master data and semester history were recorded. From 2005 onwards, bank data may also be compromised. The university rules out that examination information and grades were disclosed.
The LMU emphasises that certain data must be stored in accordance with statutory information obligations even after completion of studies – for example for pension verification purposes. To date, according to the university, there have been no extortion letters or indications of misuse of the data.
The enrolment system was gradually made available again from 22 September following an IT review and reinitialisation. The course directory LSF is to be partially available from Wednesday, 30 September. Access will initially be limited to the Munich Science Network and the LMU administration network for security reasons. Missing grade entries will be added subsequently, and altered registration deadlines will be communicated to students.
The examination portals EvaSys and EvaExam have been accessible again since Monday. Not yet restored are OpenCampus and the aptitude assessment procedure Apte. The LMU has made no statements regarding the origin or motives of the attack. A foreign actor is considered probable.
Source: Süddeutsche Zeitung