Whitworth University’s Reputation After Cyber Attack [CASE STUDY]

HelpRansomware analyzes the ransomware attack that hit Whitworth University in late July and is currently recovering.

The company, a leader in ransomware removal, cybersecurity, and decryption, studies the events of the ransomware attack on Whitworth University and how they have affected its online reputation. 

Whitworth University, a victim of a ransomware

Ransomware attacks countries, such as the Costa Rican Government, individuals, companies, and also institutions, such as universities.

The last to sound the alarm was Whitworth University, a private university in Washington.

It is one of the most common targets because it stores thousands of user data.

In addition, students exchange information on public computers, which sometimes lack computer security.

The entity’s website stopped working a month ago, and only the contact details can be accessed.

The private entity confirmed the computer incident through a statement to members of its community:

You are most likely aware by now that over the past few weeks we have been dealing with a very sophisticated security issue involving our network systems.”

Ransomware attack timeline

The Whitworth University website was down for three weeks and reported to users as a temporary bug.

Although the university stated on August 17, the attack was carried out in late July:

“On Friday, July 29, we became aware that our information systems had been accessed by outside actors”.

Until August 31, they do not plan for the university’s technological equipment to return to its ‘almost normality.’

As issued in the briefing note, it will take over a month for Whitworth University to restore 95% of operations.

The aftermath of the attack on Whitworth University

This attack brought Whitworth University students, employees, and donors to a standstill:

“If the investigation determines that personal information was affected, we will notify those affected immediately and provide them with the necessary resources to protect their information.”

Whitworth University confirms the leak to its information systems:

“Our information technology and training resource teams worked tirelessly alongside cybersecurity experts to stop the incident and have restored systems as quickly as possible.”

Although at no time does the university mention the term ‘ransomware’, it does indicate that it has been working with “external forensic experts“.

HelpRansomware offers premium cybersecurity services to help administrations and businesses remove any ransomware and restore encrypted files.

The company always insists on not paying the ransom or negotiating with cybercriminals.

Afterward, contact a company specialized in ransomware removal and file decryption, such as HelpRansomware. 

Whitworth University Ransomware Attack: The Analysis

HelpRansomware analyzes how this criminal act has affected the online reputation of the university.

• The study is divided into the:
• Feeling;
• positivity and negativity;
• Trends;
• Emotions.

The online reputation monitoring analysis is divided into two periods.

On the one hand, from July 28 to August 2, the days when the website was blocked, the university associated it with a temporary failure. The second period comprises from August 16 to 22, when Whitworth University confirmed the computer incident.

Sentiment

The RepUP Monitoring Tool computes the percentage of positive or negative sentiment generated by users on social networks.

After the ransomware attack on Whitworth University, in the following image, the sentiment of the entity in the first period is visualized.

The data is favorable: the positive sentiment is 89.1%, growing 2,000% compared to the previous week.

Next, the same analysis for the second period: from August 16 to 22.

The positive sentiment is 14%, and the negative 34.4%, increasing 256% compared to the previous period.

Its highest negative figure occurs on the day the university issues the statement.

These are very different figures before and after the confirmation of the cyber incident.

Trends

To better study, the digital reputation of the university, ReputationUP’s patented software analyzes the trends associated with Whitworth University from August 16 to 22.

As shown in the image, some of the topics are related to this type of malware:

• Web page;
• Systems;
• Incident;
• To protect;
• Attack.

All these words are in the negative-neutral range.

Next, the analysis of the same period, but with the hashtags.

The negative and neutral are also associated with the attack:

• Data security;
• Data privacy;
• Data Violation;
• Cyber security;
• Hacked;
• Ransomware;
• Cyber attack;
• LockBit;
• Malware.

Only #WSU is marked as positive.

Emotions

HelpRansomware has analyzed the emotions that Whitworth University generates.

RepUP Monitoring Tool divides the different sentiments as follows:

• Happiness;
• Sadness;
• Fear;
• Anger;
• Surprise.

In the following image, the emotions of the first period are studied: from July 28 to August 2.

Joy is the predominant emotion (85.9%), followed by sadness (7.1%) and fear (5.1%).

The feeling that has grown the most in a week is joy, with 1,317%.

Next, the same trend is observed as with sentiment.

In the second period, users’ feelings about Whitworth University are negative.

Anger is the primary emotion (32.8%), followed by sadness (31%) and fear (25.9%).

Joy drops from 85.9% in the first period to 10.3%.

Conclusions

Through this case study, it has been verified how ransomware also attacks private institutions, such as Whitworth University.

Likewise, through the data, the importance of quickly resolving a ransomware attack has been confirmed.

Time is vital not only to recover the data but also for the online reputation of the entity.

The following conclusions can be drawn from this text:

• Whitworth University called the incident a temporary glitch and, weeks later, confirmed the attack;
• The entity had a positive sentiment of 89.1%, and after the announcement of the ransomware, it fell to 14%;
• The cyberattack has supposed a negative sentiment of 34.4%;
• Online trends are associated with cyberattacks with keywords such as ransomware, malware, or LockBit;
• Joy was the predominant emotion, with 85.9%, falling to 10.3% after the attack;
• Anger has become the main emotion after ransomware.

The data verifies that Whitworth University is a victim of cybercrime, which has impacted its online reputation and sentiment.

So that the consequences do not negatively affect a company or entity, the first step is not to pay the ransom to cybercriminals.

The victim should contact a specialized cybersecurity and ransomware removal company, HelpRansomware.

The company, part of the ReputationUP group, is a leader in the decryption and recovery of data hijacked by ransomware.