Missouri Southern releases statement on cyber attack

Newstalk KZRG reported first that Missouri Southern State University had undergone a major cyber-attack. After contacting officials at the university, Missouri Southern released this statement today:

“Missouri Southern State State University was the victim of a cyber security attack on January 8, 2019. The University responded quickly and engaged a leading forensic investigation firm to help stop the attack and provide subsequent investigation services.

“The University worked diligently to notify all impacted individuals once the results of its investigation had been communicated to law enforcement.

Al Stadler, Chief Information Officer and Security officer at Missouri Southern, said the information obtained on each victim potentially included name, Social Security number and date of birth. Stadler said bank account numbers were not included in the information.

This would indicate the cyber-criminals targeted not only campus employees but many Missouri Southern students and, possibly, retirees who have retained their Missouri Southern e-mail addresses.

Missouri Southern has approximately 6,000 students and hundreds of employees.

Stadler said no criminal activity has been reported. He say he knows of no arrests or indictments that have been made at this time.

Two other universities experienced similar attacks, according to the online publication “BleepingComputer.” Those schools were Graceland College which has campuses in Lamoni, Iowa and Independence, Mo., and Oregon State University in Salem, Ore.

Newstalk KZRG has reached out to the forensic investigation firm in Everett, Washington for more information.

Students and employees began receiving letters regarding the attack and the offer of two years of complimentary credit monitoring this week.