Howard University is investigating a ransomware cyberattack that disturbed the internet service on the university’s campus. 

“Based on the investigation to date, we know that the service disruption was caused by a ransomware cyberattack against the university,” according to the statement. “We are currently working with leading external forensic experts and law enforcement to fully investigate the cause and impact.”  

The issue was detected by the university’s information technology team after the systems were taken offline. According to the Washington Post, Howard’s officials said the campus Wi-Fi would be down “until we determine the best and safest path to stand it up,” they said in a statement.  

One of Howard’s medical students says that the outage caused him to leave campus and do his work at a Starbucks so he could connect to Wi-Fi. The outage also caused a delay in uploaded lecture recordings at the medical school.  

“Over the course of the weekend, I saw many Howard students on their laptops at coffee shops and anywhere else they can obtain Wi-Fi, even the Subway on Georgia Avenue,” the student said.