Trent University has been notified by one of our third-party service providers that they discovered and stopped a ransomware attack. After discovering the attempted attack, the service provider’s cybersecurity team—together with independent forensics experts and law enforcement—successfully prevented the cybercriminal from blocking their system access and fully encrypting files; and ultimately expelled them from their system. Prior to Blackbaud locking the cybercriminal out, the cybercriminal removed a copy of a backup file which included information from some of their clients, including Trent University.  

It is important to note that the cybercriminal did not gain access to credit card or bank account information, or passwords. However, the file removed may have contained contact information, date of birth, and a history of an individual’s relationship with our organization, such as event attendance and a record of donations to us. 

Because protecting customers’ data is their top priority, our third-party service provider paid the cybercriminal’s demand with confirmation that the copy they removed had been destroyed. Based on the nature of the incident, their research, and third party (including law enforcement) investigation, they state they have no reason to believe that any data went beyond the cybercriminal, was or will be misused, or will be disseminated or otherwise made available publicly. 

However, we felt it prudent to advise our constituents of this situation, so they can remain vigilant and promptly report any suspicious activity or suspected identity theft to us and to the proper law enforcement authorities.  

At this time we are working with the service provider to reassure ourselves of the measures they have taken to increase their security in response to this situation and have reviewed our own security protocols to detect any suspicious activity. This incident did not affect any Trent University technology systems or infrastructure. 

If you have additional questions or would like to discuss this further, please contact us at incident.notification@trentu.ca or call us at 1-833-560-0519 (this number will be staffed from 10 am – 4 pm from August 4th - 14th). Trent’s cybersecurity team will continue to work with Blackbaud to investigate this matter. Please be assured that we take data protection very seriously and remain accountable to you to ensure your trust and ongoing support.