The University of Virginia’s computer network was restored Sunday afternoon, two days after officials shut it down in response to cybersecurity threats.
The attack, thought to have originated in China, targeted the personal email accounts of two university employees. UVa administrators say the hackers did not obtain any sensitive personal information or research data, but shut down much of the university’s network on Friday afternoon.
The university is currently making adjustments to the password change program to guard against further breaches, said UVa Chief Operating Officer Patrick D. Hogan.
“We’re running through all sorts of testing and routines right now,” Hogan told members of the Board of Visitors on Sunday at their first meeting of the new academic year.
“We were quite fortunate in this incident,” Hogan added. “We’re not aware of any personal information or research data that was stolen or lost.”
The administration announced that systems were back online just before 4 p.m. Sunday. The message urges students, faculty and staff members to change their passwords.
Anyone seeking further information can call the UVa Help Desk at (434) 924-4357 or toll free at (866) 469-4866.
Faculty hiring, salaries
Faculty hiring is near the top of the UVa Board of Visitors’ priorities, according to President Teresa A. Sullivan. The university’s five-year plan includes more than 500 new faulty hires, as well as incentives to bring in top researchers.
For the past two years, the university has used a new system of faculty merit pay increases. The hope is to bring the average salary for faculty members high enough to put UVa in the top 20 among major research universities.
The target has proved elusive so far — UVa is now 28th among member institutions in the American Association of Universities. It’s an improvement over the 32nd ranking during the 2012-13 fiscal year, but William H. Goodwin, rector of the university, said it isn’t good enough.
“We haven’t gotten very far,” Goodwin said. “This is one of the biggest challenges facing the board.”
Goodwin suggested looking for a “one-time bump” in state funding to help pay for a bigger increase this year, and urged fellow board members to begin lobbying the General Assembly.
New board members
Sunday’s Board of Visitors meeting — the first day of its annual retreat and orientation for new members — featured five new faces.
Goodwin resided as rector over the first public meeting since the departure of previous Rector George K. Martin.
The newcomers are Whittington W. Clement, a Richmond attorney and founder of the UVa College Foundation; Tammy Snyder Murphy, of New Jersey, co-founder of an economic think tank called New Start New Jersey; James V. Reyes, a Washington food and beverage wholesaler; Jeffrey C. Walker, of New York, vice chairman of the Office of the United Nations Special Envoy for Financing the Health Millennium Development Goals and for Malaria; and longtime political staffer Mark T. Bowles.
The new members replace Martin and Dr. Stephen P. Long, Allison Cryor DiNardo and John L. Nau, whose terms expired June 30.
Bowles replaces Dr. Edward D. Miller, who stepped down from his post one year early due to disagreements over leadership at the university.
