Mount Royal University Hit by Ransomware Data Breach Affecting Students and Staff

Mount Royal University (MRU) confirmed that a ransomware cyberattack occurred in June, with the breach detected on June 17. Unauthorized actors accessed and stole data from specific folders on the university's H drive, which contains sensitive information of students and staff. The attackers deleted the contents of the H drive to hinder recovery efforts. The J drive, containing departmental data, was also targeted, but no data was accessed from it. MRU is notifying affected individuals and has implemented credit monitoring and identity theft protection for current and former employees. The investigation is ongoing, and full recovery of deleted data may not be possible. The incident has been reported to the Alberta Information and Privacy Commissioner and law enforcement.

Key Points: • MRU's H drive was compromised, affecting student and staff data. • Data was stolen and deleted by unauthorized actors to obstruct recovery efforts. • Affected individuals will receive two years of credit monitoring and identity theft protection.