Regis University still trying to recover from cyberattack

Nearly two months after a cyberattack brought down Regis University’s information technology services, officials at the Denver school say they still don’t know the cause of the threat that continues to impact students, staff and faculty on campus.

As of last week, nearly 800 faculty and staff Windows PC computers had been restored, along with 400 classroom and lab computers, according to the website regisupdates.com. The university built the site in the aftermath of the attack to provide information after phones, websites and email were rendered unavailable in late August — just as summer school was wrapping up and the fall semester began.

“We are rebuilding in days and weeks what took many years to build,” said Jennifer Forker, Regis University spokeswoman. “We’re still reimaging computers and working on website issues. We’re addressing behind-the-scenes minutiae.”

Cyberattacks are becoming increasingly common, with nearly two dozen Texas cities recently hit by hackers who took down or otherwise crippled computer systems while demanding ransom payments to restore them.

Regis University declined to answer questions about the cause of the attack, potential financial impacts for the university and whether students, staff or faculty should be concerned about their data.

“We’re not cleared to talk about it because it’s still under investigation by law enforcement,” Forker said.

For an idea of the scope of the cyberattack, regisupdates.com provides a rundown of services that still need addressing and ones that are in progress.

Many desk phones still need additional configuration, but 100 have been restored.

Nearly 120 data restoration requests have been made from the university’s old shared drives, with 66% deemed critical or extremely critical by the requesting party. This, IT officials said, will take time to fix.

Folks are trying to merge previous and new calendar items, which may not be seamless but have been tested successfully. Arrangements are made for students and faculty to use “specialpurpose technology environments” in chemistry, biology and physical therapy.

A contract is being finalized to rebuild print services on campus.