Students taking online courses at Laurentian University deplore having been left without news from the establishment, whose website has not been accessible for nearly three days due to a cyberattack.
On Sunday, Merline Fomin tried to consult her score obtained on an exam. But faced with denied access to the university’s website, she told the Duty having become “very very very anxious”.
The first year student of the bachelor’s degree specialized in social work is taking courses online from Lévis, Quebec. She claims to have tried several times to contact the establishment for explanations, but says she received no response from them.
In a message published Tuesday evening on its social networks, the establishment announced that it was recovering from a “cyber incident […] brought to his attention on Sunday morning, February 18.” The cyberattack, which “resulted in the disruption of various IT services” and “raises significant privacy concerns,” has been “reported to law enforcement.”
The university warned its community that it was experiencing “technical problems” for the first time on Sunday, on the social network X, then on Monday on its Facebook page. Communications that Ms. Fomin claims not to have seen pass. She also specifies that around ten students with whom she communicates regularly were also worried about the situation. However, she assumes that students on campus have obtained more information.
Multiplying the tests daily, Merline Fomin explains having imagined all kinds of scenarios, to the point of fearing not obtaining her diploma. “I went to look online to see if there was anything leaking. But all I saw were the [articles sur les] financial difficulties of Laurentian University. She then wondered if the institution had disappeared, without saying a word, from the “face of the Earth”.
Learning on Tuesday the explanation of the cyber attack through the Duty, she laments that her alma mater has “let down” the students. “They didn’t tell us anything. Suddenly everything was cut off. » On the social network Another classmate was concerned about not being able to make a payment before the due date.
At the time of writing, the school’s website was still inactive, and Ms. Fomin still did not know if she would have classes on Wednesday morning. Later in the evening, Laurentian University, which clarified that it is “possible” that it will “no longer be able to communicate” through its email address intended for communications “over the next few days,” assured At Duty that “IT staff is doing everything possible to bring systems back online.”
This report is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.