Mass data leak after Bar Ilan University refuses to pay hacker $2.5m

Hundreds of thousands of documents and lists containing personal details of students and lecturers at Bar Ilan University have been leaked online, after the institution refused to pay some $2.5 million demanded by a hacker.

The cyberattack happened about three weeks ago, with the hacker — known as “darkrypt” — demanding a ransom. The central Israel university negotiated, but didn’t pay — at the recommendation of the Shin Bet security agency and the National Cyber Directorate.

After the money wasn’t paid, the hacker leaked research, lab documents, papers and lists containing personal information of thousands of people — totaling some 20 terabytes — on the hacker’s website and in a Telegram group.

Online Bar Ilan systems, including a payment system, have crashed, but the university says that isn’t related to the cyberattack and will be fixed within hours, according to the Ynet news site.

Some students are said to be planning to sue the university after their details were leaked and their online passwords were changed, locking them out of some systems.