Mississippi IHL (Photo from IHL website)
- A spokesperson for the University of Southern Mississippi confirmed to Magnolia Tribune that the school was not told of the security breach until three days later.
A security breach to the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning network, which includes the Mississippi Office of Student Financial Aid, occurred earlier this week, but it appears universities were not alerted until days later, Magnolia Tribune has learned.
According to a press release issued by IHL Thursday afternoon, the Office of Student Financial Aid was impacted by the security breach but there were no reported impacts to any individual higher educational institution.
John Sewell, Director of Communications for IHL, said the agency “became aware of the suspicious activity on Monday, September 7.”
A spokesperson for the University of Southern Mississippi confirmed to Magnolia Tribune that the school was not told of the security breach until three days later.
“Southern Miss was notified by IHL staff on Thursday, Sept. 10. There have been no impacts to our operations as a result of the incident,” said Jennifer Rigney, USM’s Assistant Director for News and Media Relations, in an emailed response.
A similar request was submitted to Ole Miss and Mississippi State to learn when officials at the two largest institutions of higher in the Magnolia State were notified of the breach but spokespersons for both schools have yet to respond.
It remains unclear what information, if any, was accessed in the security breach.
“We are working with external cybersecurity professionals to determine what, if any, confidential or sensitive data may have been accessed or compromised,” Sewell stated in his response to Magnolia Tribune.
Sewell said updates will be provided “as they become available.”
A request for information on why there was a delay from the time the breach became known by IHL to the time institutions were alerted received the following response.
“The breach was confined to the IHL office and was not a system-wide incident. We have been working with external cybersecurity professionals since the discovery of the suspicious activity,” Sewell stated Friday afternoon.
According to IHL Thursday afternoon, applications for student financial aid can still be submitted securely through the Mississippi Aid Application (MAAPP) portal on the Office of Student Financial Aid website.
“Our priority is to return our systems to full functionality as quickly as possible,” the IHL release stated Thursday.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify the breach occurred on the IHL’s network, which includes the Office of Financial Aid. It also includes IHL’s response as to why there was a delay in alerting the state’s institutions.
