The University of Manchester said data “could have been copied” during a cyberattack on its computer systems.
It’s unclear what information the attackers obtained, but staff and students have been advised to keep an eye out for any suspicious emails.
The National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) and the National Crime Agency are among the authorities working with the university’s own experts to resolve the incident.
“We are working hard to understand what data was accessed and will update you as more information becomes available,” a statement said.
The university has apologized to the community for the breach and an investigation is ongoing.
“Our priority is to resolve this issue and provide information to those affected as quickly as possible and we are pooling all available resources,” it added.
The university and the NCSC warned that anyone who might be affected should be “vigilant” to phishing emails – a common tactic used by internet fraudsters to trick people.
How to Spot Scam Emails
While they look legitimate at first glance, things to look out for include slightly skewed email addresses (for example, replacing visually similar letters in domain names with numbers), misspellings, and odd formatting.
If there is anything suspicious, you should not click on any link in the email.
UK under cyber attack
The incident comes amid a spate of cyber attacks on UK institutions and businesses this year, Includes BBC, Boots and British Airways (BA); followed by Royal Mail, smithand JD Sports.
Many of the attacks were linked to Russia, The BBC, Boots and BA hack was carried out by the cyber gang Clop.
Brett Callow, an analyst at cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, described it as “probably one of the most significant breaches in recent years.”
Last month, UK firms were urged to build their network security Defending the country from enemies “with ideological motives rather than economic motives” began targeting the UK.