The Chief Financial Officer and Vice-President of Administration Services at Saskatchewan Polytechnic says the institution became a victim of a malware attack on October 30th and the work to get everything back up to speed continues.

Cheryl Schmitz says a malicious email was opened which launched the malware. Police were contacted, cyber security experts were hired and staff and students were told to shut down their computers. It’s not known who sent the malware and Schmitz doesn’t know if they will ever know. She says within ten days, a staggered return to online learning began.

The majority of the computer systems have been restored, but work continues on additional online functions for the bookstore, the website and the administrative system. Full-time program registrations are available online, but Continuing Education registrations are being done by phone. It’s expected they will be available online in a few weeks.

The restoration work that is left, Schmitz says, doesn’t affect the students. For instance, the computer labs and their systems are not in use right now because of at-home learning, and they are part of the ongoing restoration.