Third-party gained access to University of Michigan systems, leading to August internet outage

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ANN ARBOR, MI – A third-party source infiltrated University of Michigan computer systems, which led to officials shutting down university internet during the outage at the start of the fall semester, officials said.

The university first detected suspicious activity on its campus computer network on Aug. 23, according to university spokeswoman Kim Broekhuizen. The university’s Information Assurance team, which fights cybersecurity threats and malicious actors, shut down the system the afternoon of Aug. 27.

An investigation was launched into the hack, and with the help of third-party experts, it was determined that an unauthorized individual was able to access certain university systems from Aug. 23-27, officials said.

“Based on this data analysis, we believe that the unauthorized third party was able to access personal information relating to certain students and applicants, alumni and donors, employees and contractors, University Health Service and School of Dentistry patients, and research study participants,” Broekhuizen wrote in an email to MLive/The Ann Arbor News.

The university has determined that students, applicants, alumni, donors, employees and contractors have had the following information accessed: Social Security numbers, driver’s license or other government-issued identification numbers, financial account of payment card numbers and/or health information, officials said.

Research study participants through the University Health Service and School of Dentistry have had the same information accessed, plus any information related to participation in certain research studies, officials said.

In addition to disconnecting the campus network from internet, the university notified law enforcement and is working with outside cybersecurity experts to make its network more secure, officials said.

Letters were sent on Monday, Oct. 23 to all university individuals affected, officials said. People with sensitive information from this incident are being offered a credit monitoring service free of charge from the university, officials said.

Credit reports can be accessed in the following ways:

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