Ransomware attack, pandemic close down Lincoln College

Illinois-based Lincoln College will be shutting down on Friday due to pandemic-related economic challenges as well as a ransomware attack in December that disrupted recruitment, retention, and fundraising systems, reports CNN. While the impacted systems were fixed in March, the college needed a significant donation or partnership to operate beyond the current semester amid a sharp decline in student enrollment. "Unfortunately, these efforts did not create long-term viability for Lincoln College in the face of the pandemic," said Lincoln College in a statement. Lincoln College was among the over 1,000 schools across the U.S. which have been impacted by ransomware attacks last year, according to Emsisoft, which noted that the shift to remote learning amid the pandemic has not abated cyber threats against the education sector. "Ransomware is a multi-million-dollar problem for the education sector, but its impact is more than financial. Attacks also disrupt kids' educations and cause personal information relating to both students and teachers to leak online," said Emsisoft Threat Analyst Brett Callow.