EL PASO, Texas – The University of Texas at El Paso is continuing system checks following an “unauthorized and potentially malicious intrusion” on the school system’s on-campus network.
According to social media posts, the cyberattack happened Friday morning, prompting the university to shut off all systems campus-wide, including faculty and staff email accounts.
Staff spent the weekend testing and bringing the network online system by system, but as of Monday morning say some systems may still be out.
“We are also continuing to work to safely bring all of our other systems online. This is a time-consuming process because every machine on campus must be checked. We will accomplish this as quickly and safely as possible,” read part of a university Facebook post.
Students are directed to use Blackboard to communicate with staff about in-person courses until email has been restored. The school posted a guide with directions on how to access that program here.
Remote computer systems are operational as of Monday morning, resulting in non-essential faculty, staff, and students being asked to work from home.
The walk-up COVID-19 testing sites were also closed Monday, but the school says the state drive-thru testing site is still operating.
University officials report they are not aware of any personal information being compromised, but they are continuing to look into the breach and will update as more information is available.