ASU computer system back online after hacking

TEMPE, AZ - Arizona State University's computer system is back online Thursday night after being forced offline due to a hacker attack.

ASU spokeswoman Julie Newberg said student and faculty account holders would be redirected to change their passwords, which could create a backlog in the system Thursday night due to the "large number of reset requests."

According to several messages from administrators, the network was compromised by a hacker Wednesday evening.

"It says the ASUrite system has been compromised and that service will be unavailable," student Peter Tomaino said as he read a message posted to the school's website.

The compromised network meant more than 40,000 students and faculty members could not access email, course planners or online classes.

"It's, it's a pretty big hassle," Tomaino said.

For students accustomed to technology at their fingertips, it was a trying day.

"My teacher was like, we can't use the internet today, so here's a piece of paper and you can use a pen or pencil to write on it," Elyzabeth Hoy said.

The hacker apparently stole an encrypted file with usernames and passwords of an unknown number of students and staff.  Once they discovered the breach, IT managers shut down all online services.

"I knew it was a big thing, but I didn't think the whole school would like shut down for the whole day," Hoy said.

Computer experts say there's not much chance of catching the hacker.

"If they are a talented hacker, they know how to cover their tracks and do things in a way that doesn't leave tracks," Chris Halgren of Helios Data Forensics said.

Halgren said ASU officials will likely mandate that every user change their password to access school programs, and added that students and faculty may want to change all their accounts.

"ASU is going to make sure that they can't use those passwords to get into that system, but they can still use those passwords to get into other systems."