Techcrunch
La Sapienza University in Rome, one of Europe's largest educational institutions, has experienced a multi-day system outage following an apparent ransomware attack. The university took its systems offline as a precaution and is working to restore services using unaffected backups.
AI 生成摘要
歐洲最大大學之一的羅馬薩皮恩扎大學（La Sapienza）因疑似勒索軟體攻擊，已癱瘓數日。該大學為預防措施而關閉系統，並正利用未受影響的備份努力恢復數位服務。
Latest
AI
Amazon
Apps
Biotech & Health
Climate
Cloud Computing
Commerce
Crypto
Enterprise
EVs
Fintech
Fundraising
Gadgets
Gaming
Government & Policy
Hardware
Layoffs
Media & Entertainment
Meta
Microsoft
Privacy
Robotics
Security
Social
Space
Startups
TikTok
Transportation
Venture
Staff
Events
Startup Battlefield
StrictlyVC
Newsletters
Podcasts
Videos
Partner Content
TechCrunch Brand Studio
Crunchboard
Contact Us
The computer systems of La Sapienza in Rome, one of the largest universities in Europe with around 120,000 students, have been down for three days following an apparent ransomware attack.
In a post and stories on Instagram published Tuesday, the university said that it took down its systems out of precaution following the cyberattack, that it was investigating the incident and working on restoring all digital services, and that some communication channels such as email and workstations are “partially limited.”
The school also said that it was working to restore systems based on backups, which were not affected by the hack.
As of this writing the Sapienza website remains down.
Italian daily news outlet Il Corriere della Sera reported this week that the disruption is due to a ransomware attack, something that the school nor other authorities have confirmed so far. The hackers allegedly sent the university a link to a request for a ransom, which has a countdown of 72 hours, which would start only once the link is clicked.
La Sapieza did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment sent via email. It’s unclear if the university is able to accept email at the time we reached out.
Spokespeople for Italy’s national cybersecurity agency, Agenzia per la Cybersicurezza Nazionale (or ACN), which is investigating the incident, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, asking for more information and if the attack was caused by ransomware.
In another article on Wednesday, Il Corriere reported that the hacking group behind the attack is called “Femwar02,” which was previously unknown prior to this incident. The gang used the BabLock malware, which was discovered in 2023 and is also known as Rorschach, according to the report.
La Sapienza said that exams are proceeding as normal, but students who want to sign up for exams must do so directly with professors. The school also set up “infopoints” on several locations on campus to provide information to students.
Like other types of organizations, universities and schools are frequent targets of hackers. Last year, the notorious hacking group ShinyHunters hacked Harvard University and University of Pennsylvania and stole data — without using malware to encrypt its systems — in an effort to extort the schools. The hackers revealed this week that the schools did not pay the ransom.
Topics
Senior Reporter, Cybersecurity
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai is a Senior Writer at TechCrunch, where he covers hacking, cybersecurity, surveillance, and privacy.
You can contact or verify outreach from Lorenzo by emailing [email protected], via encrypted message at +1 917 257 1382 on Signal, and @lorenzofb on Keybase/Telegram.
Tickets are live at the lowest rates of the year. Save up to $680 on your pass now.Meet investors. Discover your next portfolio company. Hear from 250+ tech leaders, dive into 200+ sessions, and explore 300+ startups building what’s next. Don’t miss these one-time savings.
Homeland Security is trying to force tech companies to hand over data about Trump critics
Fintech CEO and Forbes 30 Under 30 alum has been charged for alleged fraud
Two Stanford students launch $2M startup accelerator for students nationwide
Notepad++ says Chinese government hackers hijacked its software updates for months
Meet the new European unicorns of 2026
Nvidia CEO pushes back against report that his company’s $100B OpenAI investment has stalled
OpenClaw’s AI assistants are now building their own social network
© 2025 TechCrunch Media LLC.