DePauw University continues to grapple with a “cybersecurity incident” as of Friday, November 3. The incident began Tuesday. The restoration of “DePauwGuest” Wi-Fi has begun, but “eduroam” Wi-Fi and E-Services remain down. The University issued the following statement:

“DePauw University was recently made aware of a cybersecurity incident impacting its network environment. We are currently working with a team of forensic experts to restore the system, and a comprehensive investigation is ongoing. While these types of situations have become all-too-common nationwide, we recognize the significance of this event and have quickly taken the appropriate steps to address it.Unfortunately, these investigations can take time. Our comprehensive assessment is ongoing and may span several weeks. DePauw is fully committed to the protection of student and employee information, systems security, and data privacy. We apologize for the inconvenience and we will provide additional updates as appropriate.”

Moreover, Payment Services has limited availability to process student payments. Student billing due November 1 has been extended to at least November 7. The class registration deadline has also been extended, with a final deadline of November 30 at 2:00 p.m. 

Students shared some of their concerns and frustrations regarding the situation. Kyungmin Lee ‘24 shared his struggles: “I’m adapting pretty poorly right now, I’ve probably maxed out the amount of data on my phone. I can’t work on any homework or assignments right now, it’s been tough.”

Lee added how he has had to rely on other students for updates on the issue: “Right now, most of my information is coming from other students who have access to the internet, so I’m hearing a lot of rumors right now.”

Luis Avila ‘24 says he has experienced little disruption: “I’d say I’m doing pretty well because I am in a fraternity called Delta Upsilon. We have our own [Wi-Fi], so I feel that I’m doing well all things considered.” Avila added, “I think my professors are doing really well with adapting and not letting the situation impact our education.”

Karan Mahato ‘25 has been impacted differently. Mahato works as a cashier at the C-Store, which has been closed since Tuesday due to “issues with the cash register system,” according to a notice posted on the store entrance. Mahato says the closure has especially impacted students who utilize the store’s flexible hours. 

“We are not able to provide our services to everyone. If somebody misses the dinner, lunch, or breakfast meal hours at Hoover, they have little other means to get food here on campus.” Mahato elaborated on how the C-Store’s closure has harmed him financially. “Because of this situation, I am currently unemployed. […] Just this week, I am losing almost 30% of my whole month's income.” 

Mahato added his frustration with the University's communication to students: “I feel like the administration is trying to hide a lot of information that the students are supposed to know and have the right to know. The university should tell us if our data is breached and how long this situation might take.”

Linh (Alice) Tran ‘26 says she is operating adequately with her hotspot, but is most concerned about e-Services being down during advising and course registration season. “I am having a lot of difficulty adapting with e-Services [being] down because it is the course registration period, and I cannot access my transcript or anything else I need, so it's really a pain,” Tran said.

Tran is a Computer Science major, and she says her classes have struggled to operate without an internet connection. “I have to use the internet and code a lot and learning computer science without the internet is odd and so much more difficult. We couldn’t download our code from Moodle, so the professor had to bring in a USB so we could copy it one person at a time.” Tran hopes the university will provide more support to students without cellular data to support them. “The university has tried to be helpful by telling [the] spots where there is free Wi-Fi, so I can feel their efforts, but they can do more,” Tran said.

Editor's Note: This is an updating story. The DePauw will continue to update as more information becomes available.