Vanderbilt urges university community to shut down devices amid cybersecurity incident. Here’s what we know

What This Story Is About

• Vanderbilt University is responding to an active cybersecurity incident that may affect university devices, systems and cloud-based services.

Why It Matters

• The university is asking community members to shut down university devices and disconnect from university Wi-Fi.

What Happens Next

• Vanderbilt’s IT team is investigating and working to contain the incident. Anyone who notices suspicious activity should contact the IT service desk using a separate device or phone.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Vanderbilt University is asking its community to shut down university devices and disconnect from university Wi-Fi as it responds to an active cybersecurity incident.

The incident may affect university devices, systems and cloud-based services, Vanderbilt said. Its information technology team is investigating and working to contain the situation.

The university urged community members to watch for suspicious activity, including unexpected pop-ups, changes to files or cloud storage, unfamiliar applications, and unexpected requests for passwords or authentication approvals.

Vanderbilt said anyone who notices unusual activity should not click links, attachments, or unfamiliar prompts, or try to troubleshoot the issue. They should shut down the device immediately and contact the IT service desk from a separate device or by phone.

What you need to do, according to Vanderbilt: “IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED”

1. DO NOT CLICK on any links, pop-ups, attachments, or unfamiliar prompts.
2. DO NOT attempt to investigate, troubleshoot, or resolve the issue yourself.
3. SHUT DOWN YOUR DEVICE IMMEDIATELY to help prevent potential further security risks.
4. CONTACT THE IT SERVICE DESK IMMEDIATELY using a separate device or telephone to report the incident.

“Vanderbilt Health (VH) is aware of a possible incident involving Vanderbilt University’s IT systems,” Vanderbilt Health shared with WSMV4.

“Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt Health are legally and financially separate entities. Vanderbilt Health is taking the necessary precautions to ensure the security of our IT systems which so far have not been impacted. However, we are continuing to monitor the University’s situation closely. The safety of our patients is our top priority and patient care is continuing at all our hospital and clinical locations. We are proceeding with the utmost care and diligence.”