'A tragedy': Closure of 150-year-old college underscores toll of ransomware attacks

[Jilly_in_VA]

Lincoln College is scheduled to close its doors Friday, becoming the first U.S. institution of higher learning to shut down in part due to a ransomware attack.

A goodbye note posted to the school’s website said that it survived both World Wars, the Spanish flu and the Great Depression, but was unable to handle the combination of the Covid pandemic and a severe ransomware attack in December that took months to remedy.

“Lincoln College was a victim of a cyberattack in December 2021 that thwarted admissions activities and hindered access to all institutional data, creating an unclear picture of Fall 2022 enrollment projections,” the school wrote in its announcement. “All systems required for recruitment, retention, and fundraising efforts were inoperable. Fortunately, no personal identifying information was exposed. Once fully restored in March 2022, the projections displayed significant enrollment shortfalls, requiring a transformational donation or partnership to sustain Lincoln College beyond the current semester.”

The Illinois school, which is named after President Abraham Lincoln and broke ground on his birthday in 1865, is one of only a handful of rural American colleges that qualify as predominantly Black institutions by the Department of Education.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/ransomware-attack-covid-combine-shutter-illinois-college-rcna24905

[qwlauren35]

1. OUCH

I hurt for them.

[barbaraann]

2. Sad that MacKenzie Scott couldn't help them. :(

She helped a lot of other HBCU's.

[brush]

3. Lincoln College or Lincoln University?

[live love laugh]

5. College per the link.

[Brother Buzz]

6. Lincoln College in Lincoln, Illinois.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. That was my first question too until I clicked through to the article

since Lincoln University is also a HBCU (here in PA in the Philly 'burbs) and 2nd oldest in the country, founded a little more than a decade before this Lincoln College.

This is just sad.

[brush]

13. Yes, I had always heard of Lincoln University.

Seems the government could've helped to save them from shutdown, re: the ppe covid funds every tom, dick and crook cheated their way to.

[BumRushDaShow]

14. Sadly a lot of these schools lack lobbying

and other communications about their "status" until it's almost or is too late.

Many of the small HBCUs are under the increasing threat of competition and perceived "lack of relevancy" despite their role for many students who feel they would not do well at the large universities, and thrive in the smaller college setting that target their needs and cultural experiences. I remember hearing about the dire straits that FMU was in last year - https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/florida-memorial-university-only-hbcu-in-miami-may-lose-accreditation-12857562

Here is a list of ones that have closed over the past century - https://www.ajc.com/news/local/hbcus-that-didn-make/BnmRJgnxwnBV8yXqqtsWcP/ (although the one in Detroit is about to reopen)

[live love laugh]

4. WOW in my own back yard.

I had no idea.

What a tragedy!

[llashram]

7. sad that all those

mega-millionaire actors-male and female, super-mega millionaire sports stars-baseball, football and the round ball, and business owners not hurt by the pandemic couldn't help sustain the treasure of Amerika like this. Very sad and greedy. That's all.

[Joinfortmill]

8. So sad.

[twodogsbarking]

9. Let's hook all the computers in the world together

and see what happens.

[BannonsLiver]

11. Is that a Luddite argument against the internet?

What’s your point, exactly?

[twodogsbarking]

12. We are getting to see what happens. That is my point.