Hackers hold Newcastle Uni student data to ransom
DoppelPaymer group is threatening to release more data online unless the university pays out


Newcastle University is being held to ransom after cyber criminals hacked into its systems at the start of September.
The group behind the attack are known as 'DoppelPaymer' and have been previously linked to an attack on Elon Musk's companies SpaceX and Tesla.
The attack on the university was reported as a "cyber incident" which shutdown a number of its IT systems and took place on 4 September. At around 10:00 that same day, a backup file was taken, the university said.
The criminals have posted some of this data, which concerns students and staff members, on the dark web, according to the group's Twitter page, with a threat of more to come if they don't pay the ransom.
"Dear students of the New Castle University Congratulations with an upcoming release of your personal data," the tweet read. "What a great start of a new educational year #doppelpaymer #ransomware #malware #doppleleaks"
The university said it had alerted the Information Commissioner's Office and the police. According to its website, it could take "several weeks" to address its IT issues. As such, many services will remain offline. Third-party security experts have been drafted in, the university confirmed, and an investigation into the attack and the extent of the damage is underway.
The attack on Newcastle University follows another on Northumbria University, which had to cancel exams and shutdown its clearing hotline due to IT disruption. Although the method of attack wasn't specified in the Northumbria case, Newcastle has been reportedly hit with ransomware, which is becoming increasingly common for universities in 2020.
Get the ITPro daily newsletter
Sign up today and you will receive a free copy of our Future Focus 2025 report - the leading guidance on AI, cybersecurity and other IT challenges as per 700+ senior executives
The DoppelPaymer group are said to also offer their services for others to use, similar to the 'ransomware as a service' (RaaS) operation run by the Netwalker group, which has reportedly made over $29 million since March.
Bobby Hellard is ITPro's Reviews Editor and has worked on CloudPro and ChannelPro since 2018. In his time at ITPro, Bobby has covered stories for all the major technology companies, such as Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook, and regularly attends industry-leading events such as AWS Re:Invent and Google Cloud Next.
Bobby mainly covers hardware reviews, but you will also recognize him as the face of many of our video reviews of laptops and smartphones.
-
LaunchDarkly to "double down" on observability with Highlight acquisition
News Highlight's observability tools will be integrated into LaunchDarkly's Guarded Releases software deployment service
By Daniel Todd
-
Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE review
Reviews The Tab S10 FE retains the feel and core capabilities of Samsung's high-end S10 tablets, but compromises on the display and the performance
By Stuart Andrews
-
Ransomware attacks are rising — but quiet payouts could mean there's more than actually reported
News Ransomware attacks continue to climb, but they may be even higher than official figures show as companies choose to quietly pay to make such incidents go away.
By Nicole Kobie
-
Cleo attack victim list grows as Hertz confirms customer data stolen – and security experts say it won't be the last
News Hertz has confirmed it suffered a data breach as a result of the Cleo zero-day vulnerability in late 2024, with the car rental giant warning that customer data was stolen.
By Ross Kelly
-
‘Phishing kits are a force multiplier': Cheap cyber crime kits can be bought on the dark web for less than $25 – and experts warn it’s lowering the barrier of entry for amateur hackers
News Research from NordVPN shows phishing kits are now widely available on the dark web and via messaging apps like Telegram, and are often selling for less than $25.
By Emma Woollacott
-
Healthcare systems are rife with exploits — and ransomware gangs have noticed
News Nearly nine-in-ten healthcare organizations have medical devices that are vulnerable to exploits, and ransomware groups are taking notice.
By Nicole Kobie
-
Alleged LockBit developer extradited to the US
News A Russian-Israeli man has been extradited to the US amid accusations of being a key LockBit ransomware developer.
By Emma Woollacott
-
February was the worst month on record for ransomware attacks – and one threat group had a field day
News February 2025 was the worst month on record for the number of ransomware attacks, according to new research from Bitdefender.
By Emma Woollacott
-
CISA issues warning over Medusa ransomware after 300 victims from critical sectors impacted
News The Medusa ransomware as a Service operation compromised twice as many organizations at the start of 2025 compared to 2024
By Solomon Klappholz
-
Warning issued over prolific 'Ghost' ransomware group
News The Ghost ransomware group is known to act fast and exploit vulnerabilities in public-facing appliances
By Solomon Klappholz