Collège Montmorency confirms that it was the target of a cyberattack. Paralyzed by a computer failure, the CEGEP closed classes for the day on Thursday.
Posted at 1:07 p.m.
Updated at 3:14 p.m.
In a notice sent to its community on Thursday afternoon, Collège Montmorency confirms that an intrusion has indeed taken place in its computer system. Its internal network, paralyzed since Wednesday morning, will remain inaccessible for a few days, provides the Laval college.
“Information leads us to believe that the integrity of our IT infrastructure appears to have been compromised,” management said in a statement earlier.
Deeming the threat serious, the Cégep enlisted the help of the cyberdefense operational center of Quebec, the Ministry of Cybersecurity and Digital and the firm KPMG, specializing in cybersecurity. The Laval police were also called upon.
The investigation is continuing, but it is still too early to guarantee that no damage has been done to the College’s data.
In this context, management invites its community to be extra vigilant, by avoiding opening any e-mail from an unknown sender.
Courses surveyed
In order to take the time to remedy the situation, the management of the College has decided to suspend all classes for the day of Thursday. Students will be back in class on Friday.
If the attack comes to shake up the end of the session of the students, the management wants to be reassuring: everything will be done to minimize the impact on the progress of the final exams, she promises.
“We are confident that faculty members will be able to organize their educational activities to adequately support students until the end of the session,” the new notice states.