The University of Nottingham in the UK has confirmed suffering a data breach after the notorious ShinyHunters hacker collective leaked files stolen from the university’s systems.
The University of Nottingham is a major research university in the UK, ranked among the world’s top 100 institutions and home to more than 35,000 students on its UK campuses, plus thousands more at its international branches in China and Malaysia.
The ShinyHunters group listed the organization on its leak website and published gigabytes of files allegedly stolen from its systems. The hackers claimed to have obtained financial information pertaining to all of the university’s campuses.
An analysis of the leaked files by the account breach notification service Have I Been Pwned showed that they contain roughly 455,000 unique email addresses, along with other types of personal information such as usernames, names, addresses, phone numbers, passport numbers, genders, and details on ethnicity, disabilities, academic enrolment, citizenship status, and fee payments.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the University of Nottingham confirmed that hackers accessed “a significant amount of data” in its student record system.
The university says the data breach impacts current students and alumni.
“We are working to understand the data that has been accessed and have contacted those students and alumni affected directly. We are working closely with Action Fraud, the Information Commissioner’s Office, and other regulatory bodies,” the organization said.
Related: Canvas System Is Online After a Cyberattack Disrupted Thousands of Schools
Related: 1.2 Million Affected by University of Hawaii Cancer Center Data Breach
Related: 3.5 Million Affected by University of Phoenix Data Breach
Related: University of Sydney Data Breach Affects 27,000 Individuals
