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GVSU Cyber Security: How You Can Help

An investigation is ongoing at Grand Valley State University into the weekend hacking attempt of its Banner self-service computer portal. Hackers attempted to get access to just over 21-thousand accounts, but were unsuccessful.  University officials say they don’t know the motive behind the attack, but they do say there’s something users can do to help thwart future issues.

“We are still clueless on who perpetrated it and what the motive was.”

That’s GVSU Vice President of Enrollment Development, Lynn McNamara Blue.  She says Saturday’s attempt netted the hackers zero information. Just over 21-thousand accounts were locked out.  That means accounts were shut down after numerous failed attempts to get in.

“They were going at my banner and my banner is a portal that students and employees use to update their records, of the ones that were locked out, nothing happened, we can’t find any record that they were able to penetrate and change.”

Blue says credit card and social security information was never at risk.  She says they’ve got a team of experts, a crisis team, working around the clock, including University Risk Management and Law enforcement… but she adds while the investigation continues, there’s also something subscribers can do to help.

“The thing that people could do is get serious about their passwords and not have them be 111 or 999. and if you put something out there that’s simple those will be the first things they have  in their program.” 

Subscribers can call the GVSU Police Department if they suspect any suspicious activity.

Jennifer is an award winning broadcast news journalist with more than two decades of professional television news experience including the nation's fifth largest news market. She's worked as both news reporter and news anchor for television and radio in markets from Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo all the way to San Francisco, California.