Portal breach at Germany's top university exposes every registered user's password
Stolen sysadmin credentials enabled a follow-on attack on the campus management system
A security breach at Germany's Technical University of Munich (TUM) has exposed every registered user's password on its myTUM portal. The attackers stole central login credentials, including an administrator's, and used them to compromise TUMonline, the university's main campus management system. The IT team restored access to the TUMonline system on Monday morning, enabling users to change their passwords.
The university made the announcement on November 6, but has not disclosed how the attackers initially gained access or the number of affected users. The stolen passwords were stored unknowingly, with no MFA (multi-factor authentication) mentioned for the affected accounts. The breach may have also exposed users' names, home addresses, dates of birth, work addresses, phone numbers, and academic records.
TUM's CIO, Dr. Alexander Braun, stated that no other data within TUMonline was compromised, such as grades or college applications. Users are advised to reset their passwords through Microsoft 365 if possible, and those without MFA configured should use a German electronic ID or request a reset email while on campus. The university also warned users to watch for phishing and fraud attempts, and to avoid reusing passwords elsewhere.
TUM, a top-ranked STEM-focused institution with 51,954 students and 12,850 employees, is actively investigating the incident.
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