Grenfell Campus of Memorial University expects to resume in-person class instruction on Monday following a cyberattack that shut down the campus’s IT services.

The Vice President of Grenfell Campus, Dr. Ian Sutherland, says an investigation was launched as soon as officials became aware of an issue on December 29. That also led to a precautionary shutdown of IT services at the Marine Institute. Turns out, though, that that facility was not affected and services there resumed on Tuesday.

In the meantime, third-party cybersecurity experts are leading an investigation into the incident and law enforcement officials have been informed as per existing protocol.

Sutherland says it’s not clear at this stage whether personal information may have been compromised.

That, says Sutherland, is part of the ongoing investigation. He says if any data breaches took place, those affected will be contacted as quickly as possible.

Online classes will resume as normal on Thursday.

MUNFA meanwhile says academic staff have been asked to return devices that may be affected by the cyber attack. That includes Grenfell-issued desktop computers and laptops, including devices purchased through research funds.

MUNFA says the disruption caused by the incident is “significant” but little other information is available at this time. The Faculty Association says its executive was not part of the planning team that made the decision to delay the start of the semester, nor was it part of the decision to return affected devices.

The union is calling for transparency and accountability on the breach and what it calls “the full-reaching impacts” on its members.