College of Eastern Idaho hit by malware attack

Logan Ramsey, EastIdahoNews.com

An aerial view of the College of Eastern Idaho in Idaho Falls. | Courtesy CEI

IDAHO FALLS – A local college has experienced a cyberattack.

The College of Eastern Idaho released a news release on Monday announcing that malware had been introduced into the school’s “network environment” last week. While the school is still working to eliminate the malware from its network, it has not found any evidence of a student or staff data breach.

“Our top priority is the safety and security of our students, faculty, and institutional data,” said CEI President Lori Barber in the news release. “We are working closely with cybersecurity experts and following all appropriate protocols and regulatory guidelines to fully eliminate the malware and restore system functionality.”

According to the release, the school was targeted last week when a student used a personal laptop to access an “external website that introduced malware into CEI’s network environment.” This prompted the college to “proactively shut down its network systems as a precautionary measure.”

While the CEI Information Technology team worked to contain and monitor the threat, they discovered that the malicious actor had escalated the cyberattack and launched a Trojan horse attack on the school.

“CEI responded quickly by shutting down its systems to prevent further intrusion and to protect the integrity of college data and infrastructure,” reads the news release.

The release states CEI has contingency plans that will allow it to run summer courses normally, adding, “The college remains committed to maintaining academic continuity and supporting students and staff throughout this process.”

CEI stated that it does not have a definitive timeline for when network functionality will be fully restored.

EastIdahoNews.com reached out to CEI for additional information, and will provide updates as the college releases them.