{
  "id": 19279734,
  "title": "Vanderbilt University tells students to disconnect devices after ransomware gang claims theft of 1 million records",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/10/vanderbilt-university-tells-students-to-disconnect-devices-after",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-11-10T03:25:22.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Hindustan Times - World News",
    "slug": "hindustan-times-world-news",
    "url": "https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/vanderbilt-university-tells-students-to-disconnect-devices-after-ransomware-gang-claims-theft-of-1-million-records-101794272177956.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Vanderbilt University has ordered students, faculty and staff to disconnect their devices from the campus network following a suspected ransomware attack that disabled university systems on Monday. The cybercriminal group BYOD, which claimed responsibility, alleged it stole data from over one million individuals linked to the institution. Vanderbilt advised users to “SHUT DOWN YOUR DEVICE IMMEDIATELY” and discouraged independent troubleshooting to minimize additional security dangers. Melissa Rose, dean of the Blair School of Music, informed students that the university was adhering to protocols and awaiting further instructions. VUIT (Vanderbilt University Information Technology) was working to contain the incident. The BYOD group announced on Ransomware.live that it had encrypted Vanderbilt's databases and stolen a large quantity of sensitive data, including Social Security numbers, names, email addresses, phone numbers, and student and employee records. The group also claimed to have compromised the university's domain controller infrastructure. Vanderbilt had not yet confirmed if any personal information was accessed or exfiltrated. Some university-issued devices displayed ransomware messages, and others received pop-up notifications related to the attack. Encrypted files with the \".byod\" extension prevented access to certain university data. Researchers had to rely on personal backups due to the unavailability of university-hosted research. Cybersecurity experts noted that universities are frequent targets due to their extensive personal, financial, and research data storage and reliance on numerous connected devices. BYOD is believed to be a reference to the \"Bring Your Own Device\" cybersecurity policy allowing users to connect personal devices to institutional networks. BYOD has previously claimed attacks on Michigan State University and the University of New Mexico Health System. The ongoing investigation is being conducted by university officials to restore affected services.",
  "summary": "Vanderbilt University urges users to shut down computers and stay off campus networks as a ransomware group claims to have stolen sensitive data.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 5,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "CBC Canada",
        "title": "York University warns of personal data theft in cybersecurity breach",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/08/york-university-warns-of-personal-data-theft-in-cybersecurity-breach",
        "published": "2026-11-08T17:50:29.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Winnipeg Free Press",
        "title": "York University investigating cybersecurity incident, data theft",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/08/york-university-investigating-cybersecurity-incident-data-theft",
        "published": "2026-11-08T19:09:14.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "CityNews",
        "title": "York University investigating cybersecurity incident, data theft",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/08/york-university-investigating-cybersecurity-incident-data-theft-19018699",
        "published": "2026-11-08T20:02:16.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Global News",
        "title": "York University investigating cybersecurity incident, data theft",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/09/york-university-investigating-cybersecurity-incident-data-theft",
        "published": "2026-11-09T12:43:32.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}