Students at the University of Manchester say they've been left terrified after being bombarded with a series of chilling emails threatening to 'destroy lives.'
The Manchester Evening News has seen emails from supposed hackers, who say they've obtained addresses, police reports, academic investigations, and health data from the university network.
In an email sent to students, lecturers and staff, the hackers are threatening to sell off the personal data to the 'highest bidder' unless they come to a resolution with the university, or if they pay a 'small fee' for the non-disclosure of information.
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It comes after university bosses announced they had launched an investigation earlier this month, following a 'cyber security incident' in which unauthorised activity was detected on its network.
The university have since confirmed they are 'aware that some staff and students have been sent emails purporting to be from the people behind it' and are urging those affected to report the emails to their IT department.
One student, who asked to remain anonymous, told the M.E.N she was "shocked" when the emails came through this week.
"The university have put a new filter system on emails to try and block unwanted messages but clearly it isn't functioning well," she said. "It's quite threatening and we have no idea if the hackers have got the data they claim to hold or are trying to scare.
"Either way, it's our personal data tat the university has a duty to protect. I'm worried about the long term affect this could have on future career prospects. It's really terrifying."
In one email seen by the Manchester Evening News, the hacker/s state they have stolen 7TB (terabytes) of data from the university, including confidential personal information from students and staff.
"We'd like to inform all students, lecturers, administration, and staff that we have successfully hacked manchester.ac.uk network on June 6 2023," it reads.
"We have stolen7TB of data, including confidential personal information from students and staff, research data, medical data, police reports, drug tests results, databases, HR documents, finance documents and more.
"The administration is fully aware of the situation and had been in discussion with us for over a week. However, they value money above the privacy and security of their students and employees. They do not care about you or that ALL your personal information and research work will be sold or made public.
"This is our last warning. As of today evening we will start to disclose data to all students, parents and employees. After that we will start to sell this data to the highest bidder."
In a separate email, the hacker/s said: "Ever cheat on exams? Accuse of misconduct? Have health incident? We have proof, and soon everyone will have this proof too. Think about your future and your career. This data can destroy your life."
The hackers are offering students and staff the option to contact university bosses and demand they resolve the situation, or pay a 'small fee' for the non-disclosure of their data.
A spokesperson for Manchester University said: "Following our reporting of a cyber-incident earlier this month, we are aware that some staff and students have been sent emails purporting to be from the people behind it. All staff and students should be wary of opening suspicious emails or phishing attempts, and report them to our IT department.
"Our in-house experts and external support are working around-the-clock to resolve this incident, and to understand what data has been accessed. Our priority is to resolve this issue and provide information to those affected as soon as we are able to, and we are focussing all available resources.
"If anyone is directly affected by this incident they will be contacted through University channels."
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