The email went out to students at Knox College, a small liberal arts school in Illinois, on the evening of Dec. 12. A hacker group known as Hive had broken into the college’s computer system and gained access to student data, a common ransomware tactic. But this group had a new wrinkle for Knox students. “We have compromised your collage networks,” the email said, written in the kind of broken English common among international ransomware hackers. “The data we have includes your personal information, medical records, psychological assessments, and many other sensitive data.” “Additionally all of your SSN and Medical records will be put for sale, for every hacker to gain access and use your data in whatever illegal activity they want,” the hackers wrote. “To us, this is a normal business day. For you, its a sad day where everyone will see your personal and private info.”
