Bea Beltran Tech 11.25.2022 20:Nov PM EST

Vice Society Ransomware Claims Responsibility for Cincinnati State College Cyberattack

The hackers behind the Vice Society ransomware group claimed the responsibility, for a cyberattack against a State college. Documents from Cincinnati State Technical and Community College were leaked on Tor, with records that date back from many years ago up to November 24th. Reports say that the leak was due to the victim failing to pay the ransom.

Recovery from the Attack

Around 10,000 students and 1,000 staffers were told of the incident, and that online services and going back to regular operations make take some time. However, the campus claims that they are making excellent progress with the restoration of systems and services. The college's operations are still fractured, and many services are still unavailable.

According to Bleeping Computer, the Cincinnati State College website already put up a FAQs section on the site. This is to answer employees' as well as current and new students' inquiries. It provides instructions on how to navigate the school system before it's restored to its full capacity again. The website shows just how big of an impact the cyberattack had.

Damage Left by Vice Society

For employees and students alike to change their Cincinnati State passwords, they have to call the Technology Helpdesk at 512-569-1234, and press option 1. This is due to the college not being able to receive voicemail at the time. The Cincinnati State college advised callers to email the department they need to contact or visit in person instead.

Electronic payments are also impacted, which are still unavailable for those who wish to make transactions. Instead, they will have to send their payments via postal mail or the drop box. This is caused by the college's payment processor, TouchNet being connected to systems that are not available.

Loaner laptops used by students received an email on November 15th. CStateAlert has instructed the laptop holders to install the Carbon Black and Redcloak security software, along with instructions on how to do it. As long as the holder has not updated the security system, they won't be able to access Blackboard.

Starting from October 23rd, employees and supervisors have to keep track of their hours, since SurgeTime, the system that tracks the hourly work of staff, is also down. This also goes for sick days and leave days. Employees will receive instruction on how to record the hours worked, sick leave, and leave days once SurgeTime is operational again.

Most employees have received the correct amount of compensation, while others were either underpaid or overpaid. Corrections will be reflected on the next pay for both deductions and compensations. The adjustments will be done as soon as the network systems are up and running, as mentioned on the Cincinnati State website.

The college has already restored some of its systems. These include Blackboard, on-campus email, on-campus Internet, Middletown Internet access, Guest WiFi, password resetting via Technology Helpdesk, and classroom computers. Both faculty and students can now log onto their computers and access the internet.

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