On April 28, 2023, Montana State University posted a notice informing students and employees of a system outage. While MSU’s notice was vague, since then, a prominent ransomware group has added MSU to its list of victims. While MSU has yet to acknowledge whether any student or employee data was leaked, it will be required to send data breach notification letters to all individuals who were impacted by the recent data security incident.

If you receive a data breach notification from Montana State University, it is essential you understand what is at risk and what you can do about it. To learn more about how to protect yourself from becoming a victim of fraud or identity theft and what your legal options are in the wake of the Montana State University data breach, please see our recent piece on the topic here.

What We Know So Far About the Montana State University Outage and Possible Data Breach

News of the Montana State University outage is still fresh; however, what we know at this point comes from the notices posted on the school’s website. According to two notices dated April 28, 2023 and May 2, 2023, MSU experienced a cyberattack on April 20, 2023. In response, MSU secured its network and began working to bring all affected systems back online safely. During this time, MSU advised students and employees to avoid using MSU-owned computers or MSU wired and wireless internet networks.

Subsequently, MSU asked all faculty members and students to change their passwords as the school continued to bring downed systems back online. None of MSU’s posts thus far indicate that the incident stemmed from a ransomware attack.

However, Royal, a prominent ransomware group, recently added Montana State University to its list of victims, although, as of May 3, 2023, the group has yet to post any proof that it obtained any student or faculty information.

If Montana State University concludes its investigation determining that confidential student or faculty information was subject to unauthorized access, the institution will be required to send out data breach letters to all individuals whose information was compromised as a result.

More Information About Montana State University

Originally founded in 1893 as the Agricultural College of the State of Montana, Montana State University is a public research university in Bozeman, Montana. The school operates nine colleges, through which it offers bachelor’s degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 68 fields, and doctoral degrees in 35 fields. MSU has a student body of approximately 16,700. Montana State University employs more than 1,736 people and generates approximately $195 million in annual revenue.