University of Leipzig Extends Exam Period Again Following Cyberattack

Following the cyberattack, the University of Leipzig has once again extended the submission deadlines for written exams. As the university announced on a temporary website, term papers and theses must be submitted by November 20. 

The deadline had previously been extended to November 6 because the university’s IT infrastructure has been offline since the attack. However, the extension does not apply to state examinations, as further noted on the temporary website. Students should contact the state examination offices regarding these exams.

Like in the ’90s

In-person university operations are continuing relatively normally despite all the restrictions, a spokesperson said. The technology in the lecture halls and seminar rooms is working, and seminars and lectures can take place as planned. In addition, staff and students are finding “pragmatic solutions” for organizing their studies.

The university’s law school, for example, is making do with a digital “bulletin board.” Among other things, lecture materials are posted there. For a faculty, the IT outage “shouldn’t really be a problem,” Dean Marc Desens announced on the aforementioned “bulletin board.” For the time being, they are working the same way they did 30 years ago. Back then, students also relied on a central bulletin board for information.

Restrictions for students likely to last for weeks

In the middle of last week, the University of Leipzig fell victim to a hacker attack. As a result, the servers were taken offline “to prevent damage,” as a spokesperson said at the time. Since then, the website has been inaccessible, and email communication has also been limited. 

Since the end of last week, the university’s faculties and central departments have once again been reachable via email through an external system. The central departments include, for example, the University Library, the Center for University Sports, and the Language Center. 

As Rector Eva Inés Obergfell announced earlier this week, everyone must be prepared for the fact “that it will take weeks until all systems are back online and running optimally.”