Grayson College is recovering from cyber security threat

Grayson College systems officially began coming back online late Friday afternoon after a cyber security threat that occurred early Monday morning. The College took systems offline to contain the threat and has worked throughout the week to restore services in a safe and secure manner.

“Our students and employees have been tremendously patient during this rocky start to the term,” GC President Dr. Jeremy McMillen said. “We’re pleased with the progress thus far and look forward to a strong spring semester. Students will continue to have access to instruction, employees will be paid on time, and we anticipate financial aid will be disbursed as scheduled with few exceptions.”

To support students, Grayson has extended the payment deadline for Spring term to Friday, January 24. Employees will work through the weekend to process documents, update files and make preparations to award financial aid. The College will not be open to the public this weekend to allow employees dedicated time to prepare to serve students. Extended hours on Tuesday and Wednesday will be 8am-6pm to accommodate student needs.

On Tuesday, students will be asked confirm schedule changes, check for a balance owed and review financial aid award statements in their MyViking student portal. If there are questions, students should work with the appropriate department as needed.

While systems have been restored, there may be some intermittent technical issues; they GC team is working to address these as quickly as possible.

The investigation is still ongoing and not yet complete. “We will continue to work with law enforcement and an independent computer security firm,” GC Director of Administrative Computing Casey Ticknor said. “At this point, the initial investigation does not indicate any personal information was compromised. As the investigation progresses, we will learn more and update the public as necessary.”

Students should continue monitoring Viking email and working with the Grayson team as issues arise. Updates will be provided as available through multiple outlets including grayson.edu.

For more information, contact Rhea Bermel, Marketing and Public Information Coordinator at bermelr@grayson.edu or 903.647.8342.