North Park University

North Park University, a higher education institution based in Washington State, fell victim to a ransomware cyberattack between May 7, 2020, and May 20, 2020. The attack compromised the personal information of approximately 1,239 Washington residents, specifically exposing their names and dates of birth. While the breach did not involve highly sensitive data like financial records or Social Security numbers, the unauthorized access to personal identifiers poses risks of identity theft, phishing, or targeted scams. The incident was formally reported to the Washington State Office of the Attorney General on January 13, 2021, nearly eight months after the attack concluded. The delay in disclosure may have exacerbated potential vulnerabilities for affected individuals, as they remained unaware of the exposure for an extended period. The attack highlights the growing threat of ransomware targeting educational institutions, which often hold vast amounts of personal data but may lack robust cybersecurity defenses compared to corporate or government entities.

Source: https://www.atg.wa.gov/data-breach-notifications | https://data.wa.gov/resource/sb4j-ca4h.json?id=10389

TPRM report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/npu-alpfa

"id": "npu811082025",
"linkid": "npu-alpfa",
"type": "Ransomware",
"date": "2/2020",
"severity": "100",
"impact": "4",
"explanation": "Attack with significant impact with customers data leaks"

{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': 1239,
                        'industry': 'higher education',
                        'location': 'Chicago, Illinois, USA',
                        'name': 'North Park University',
                        'type': 'educational institution'}],
 'data_breach': {'number_of_records_exposed': 1239,
                 'personally_identifiable_information': ['names',
                                                         'dates of birth'],
                 'sensitivity_of_data': 'moderate',
                 'type_of_data_compromised': ['personally identifiable '
                                              'information (PII)']},
 'date_detected': '2020-05-07',
 'date_publicly_disclosed': '2021-01-13',
 'date_resolved': '2020-05-20',
 'description': 'The Washington State Office of the Attorney General reported '
                'that North Park University experienced a ransomware '
                'cyberattack beginning on May 7, 2020, and concluding on May '
                '20, 2020. The incident potentially affected the personal '
                'information of approximately 1,239 Washington residents, '
                'specifically their names and dates of birth.',
 'impact': {'data_compromised': ['names', 'dates of birth'],
            'identity_theft_risk': 'potential'},
 'references': [{'source': 'Washington State Office of the Attorney General'}],
 'regulatory_compliance': {'regulatory_notifications': ['Washington State '
                                                        'Office of the '
                                                        'Attorney General']},
 'title': 'North Park University Ransomware Attack (2020)',
 'type': 'ransomware'}