NICOSIA – The Medusa ransomware group has claimed responsibility for the cyberattack on the Open University of Cyprus (OUC), which disrupted operations, and is now demanding $100,000 to delete the data, otherwise it will publish it online. OUC is an online university based in Nicosia, Cyprus, that offers remote learning, including 30 higher-level education programs to 4,200 students and is involved in various scientific research activities.

The attack took place on March 27 and resulted in several central services and critical systems going offline, as well as limited access to a number of learning portals and some other services. The hackers have posted OUC’s data on its leak site, giving the institute 14 days to respond to their ransom demands, and they have offered to delay the release of data by one day for $10,000, according to Bleeping Computer.

Medusa has also announced its plans to sell the hacked data for the same price to anyone interested and has posted data samples that show lists of students’ personal information as well as financial records of the university’s research partners as proof that it had the files.

Cyprus has been a prime target for hackers as the country has been slow in implementing anti-ransomware systems. Earlier in March, the national land registry was breached and taken offline until a new portal was built and restarted.