Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi, took parts of its internal network offline after detecting a cybersecurity incident on March 6, with some services still unavailable nearly two weeks later, according to a university statement reported by WLBT.
University President Dr. Roger Parrott said Belhaven suspended access to portions of its internal network after “identifying a cybersecurity incident.” He said the university took affected systems offline and engaged “nationally recognized cybersecurity specialists” to support the investigation and recovery, and has been in communication with law enforcement.
Belhaven has not said which campus functions were disrupted. The university also has not disclosed the nature of the incident or who may be responsible. It did not respond to an email seeking comment from DysruptionHub.
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As of March 18, restoration work was “progressing well,” Parrott said, with systems being reviewed before returning to full operation. He said the university has “no evidence indicating that personal information has been compromised,” though the investigation is ongoing.
Recent cyber incidents have disrupted higher-education campuses across the U.S., with schools sometimes taking networks offline while specialists assess systems and restore services. This month, Community College of Beaver County in Pennsylvania said it locked down technology after an encryption-based “cryptolocker” attack. Lehigh Carbon Community College also reported a campuswide IT disruption that prompted shutdown steps. The Medusa ransomware group later listed the school on its leak site, an unverified claim, according to Comparitech, that the college has not publicly confirmed.
Belhaven is a private Christian university based in Jackson with thousands of students across campus and online programs, according to the university and publicly available institution profiles.
Belhaven said it will provide additional information “if it becomes appropriate to do so.”
