Manchester University has become the latest victim of a wave of cyberattacks directed against UK businesses and institutions.
In a statement, the university said it was likely data had “been copied” during a hack on its computer systems.
Staff and students have been advised to watch out for any suspicious emails, while the university said it was working with the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and National Crime Agency to understand what had happened.
"We are working to understand what data have been accessed and will update you as more information becomes available," said the statement.
The university has apologised to its community for the breach, which is being investigated.
Attacks on organisations in the UK have been frequent this year with earlier this month the BBC, Boots and British Airways all affected by an attack on Zellis, a payroll company they use.
That attack led to the hackers, believed to be a Russian group called Clop, sending an ultimatum to people who had had data stolen to pay otherwise the information would be sold on the ‘dark web’.
Royal Mail’s operations were affected for days after an attack earlier this year while pensions fund details were said to be among data stolen when a Russian group hacked into outsourcer Capita’s servers.