One of the largest universities in Europe stopped working for several days after being subjected to a cyber attack

Computer systems at La Sapienza University in Rome, one of the largest universities in Europe with about 120,000 students, were down for three days after an apparent ransomware attack.

In an Instagram post and stories published Tuesday, the university said it had shut down its systems as a precaution following the cyberattack, that it was investigating the incident and working to restore all digital services, and that some communication channels such as email and workstations were “partially limited.”

The school also said it was working to restore systems based on backups, which were not affected by the hack.

As of this writing, the Sapienza website remains down.

Italian daily news outlet Il Corriere della Sera reported this week that the disruption was due to a ransomware attack, something that has so far been confirmed by the school or other authorities. The hackers allegedly sent the university a link to a ransom demand, which included a 72-hour countdown, which would start once the link was clicked.

La Sapieza did not respond to TechCrunch’s emailed request for comment. It is not clear whether the university was able to accept email at the time we reached out.

Spokespeople for Italy’s national cybersecurity agency, Agenzia per la Cybersicurezza Nazionale (or ACN), which is investigating the incident, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, requesting more information and whether the attack was caused by ransomware.

In another article on Wednesday, El Corriere newspaper reported that the hacking group behind the attack is called “Femwar02,” which was previously unknown before this incident. The gang used BabLock malware, which was discovered in 2023 and is also known as Rorschach, according to the report.

La Sapienza said exams are going on as usual, but students who want to register for exams must do so directly with professors. The school has also established ‘information points’ at several locations on campus to provide information to students.

Like other types of organizations, universities and schools are frequent targets of hackers. Last year, the notorious ShinyHunters hacking group hacked into Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania and stole data — without using malware to encrypt their systems — in an attempt to extort the schools. The hackers revealed this week that the schools had not paid the ransom.