(WWJ) - School officials for the University of Detroit Mercy have confirmed "unauthorized access" to their cybernetwork Friday afternoon and hackers responsible have threatened to release the information they have if the university does not comply with demands.
Ransomware group, Lockbit 2.0, has claimed responsibility for the hack which occurred early Friday morning.
The university did not release which computer servers were affected or what kind of information was stolen, but officials said they are working with private cybersecurity companies in an active investigation into the breach.
U of D Mercy said no personal information has so far popped up on the dark web, but local cybersecurity experts say it's only a matter of time.
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Cyber and Privacy liability expert David Derigiotis told WWJ's Jon Hewitt that he is familiar with Lockbit 2.0 and they do not discriminate when it comes to targeting organizations all over the world.
"Doesn't matter the size; doesn't matter the sector -- education, government, public entity -- they are actively seeking new targets," Derigiotis warned.
Derigiotis, who works out of Burns and Wilcox in Farmington Hills, said the information that the ransomware group hacks into is published to a site meant to shame clients.
"It's their PR site and they're advertising and promoting the fact that they have compromised an organization," Derigiotis explained.
Lockbit 2.0 is very active, according to Derigiotis, with new organizations listed every day -- and they don't bluff on their threats.
"They lock up [the organization's] data and they've extracted it -- if [the organization is] not willing to pay the ransom demand, then they're going to release that information to further shame that company."
The University of Detroit Mercy is no exception -- Lockbit 2.0 is currently threatening to release the information they have illegally obtained from the university if their ransom demands are not met by Feb. 13.
No details have been released by authorities or school officials regarding what the ransomware group is asking for and an investigation by the school is currently ongoing.
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