Considered the first major ransomware attack of the year, a cyberattack has hit one of Europe’s best technology schools, leading to class disruption.

The school in question, Eindhoven University of Technology, sent classes for 13,000 students into hiatus. The cyberattack rendered all the university’s network systems inoperable, thereby grounding all activities on campus.

According to Cyber News, all services that are deemed necessary, such as email and Wi-Fi, as well as the educational platforms, Teams and Canvas, have been disabled. Even the canteen and parking systems were affected, and food service or controlled parking access were denied to students and staff.

After detecting suspicious activity late Saturday, TU/e’s IT team shut down all network systems to prevent further damage.

This precautionary measure was needed to stop the attackers from gaining access to more critical data. However, this caused huge inconvenience to the students, staff, and others on campus.

Emergency numbers were reportedly low, although authorities have claimed no data hacking occurred. Campus coffee machines were also reported working normally, an addition to what’s being learned as the disruption unfolded.

Patrick Groothuis, vice-chairman of the university’s executive board, acknowledged the impact on campus life but stressed that it was crucial to contain the cyberattack.

The university warned employees and students against phishing scams where cybercrime masters exploit confusion stemming from attacks such as the ones mentioned earlier. Cooperation between ASML, an epitome chip production company around the world, with TU/e serves as evidence of the importance at stake by hacking.

This incident shows how vulnerable educational institutions are to cyberattacks. With more than 20,000 students and employees affected, TU/e will take time and careful effort to restore its systems and rebuild trust within the campus community.