As you are aware, the Irish Higher Education Sector was affected by a recent ransomware attack and as always, we’re here to help.
We would explicitly remind HEAnet clients of the recent NCSC advisory in relation to unpatched and End-of-Life VMWare ESXi: https://www.ncsc.gov.ie/pdfs/NCSC_Alert_ESXi_Servers_Encrypted.pdf
HEAnet’s DDoS mitigation service will automatically activate in the case of a high-volume attack. The service can also be manually activated by contacting the HEAnet NOC.
We would recommend reminding all staff and students not to click on links in emails unless absolutely sure of the source of the email. If in doubt, check with the sender by phone or in person conversation, noting that all phone numbers or URLs should be independently confirmed. Additionally, we recommend reminding all staff and students to be extra mindful when entering credentials and don’t enter credentials if prompted from an unexpected source.
The HEAnet NOC maintains contact with bodies such as the Irish National Cyber Security Centre, the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau (GNCCB), NREN CERTs and cyber security companies and can provide contacts and coordination in the case of an incident.
We would recommend that contacting HEAnet should be a step in your cyber security, major incident or DR/BCP planning, as it is essential for us to stay informed about any changes to or events on the network so we can best support you.
In case of an incident or urgent query, please don’t hesitate to contact us 01 6609040.
If more information becomes available, we will send a further communication. Should the situation warrant, we may also organise a townhall event for HEAnet clients.
Additionally, we will continue to publish news and updates on our Security Updates webpage – https://www.heanet.ie/services/security-services/security-updates
