Ransomware Attack Closes Michigan College

A college in Michigan has closed its campuses and canceled classes after falling victim to a cyber-attack. 

Kellogg Community College, which is based in Battle Creek and serves approximately 7000 students annually, was targeted with ransomware on Friday. 

In a statement posted to its website on Sunday, the college announced the cancellation of all Monday classes and the closure of its five campuses in Battle Creek, Albion, Coldwater and Hastings because of the attack.

The college said its campuses would remain closed while the security incident was under investigation. Kellogg also said that it would be implementing a “forced password reset for all students, faculty and staff” to improve the cybersecurity of its network.

“We want to reassure our faculty and students that we will take any actions necessary for students to complete course work in a timely manner and appreciate your patience and support in the meantime,” the alert read.

According to an update posted by the college on its website on Monday, efforts were ongoing to restore the impacted systems and determine the scope of the attack.

“As we have previously informed you, we have been victim of a ransomware attack on our systems and services,” said the college.

“We are still working to understand the full extent of this incident, but since our last update, we have been working diligently with our IRT team and have made progress into our restoration process.”

The college added that all classes would remain canceled “until we are able to reopen safely.”

Eric Greene, the college’s VP for strategy, relations and communications, said on Monday that Kellogg “had backups in place” and is “working systematically with our IT experts to restore our operations.”

While Kellogg’s campuses remained off-limits to students on Tuesday, staff were given permission to return and were instructed to report to the main campus at 10 am. 

The college told its employees: “We will work with you to ensure we are equipped and ready to welcome our students back on campus this week.” 

Kellogg said it would provide a further update on the ransomware incident on Tuesday afternoon.