Russian cybercriminals have warned several large organisations, including the BBC, they have a deadline of next week to respond to a massive hack attack.
The Clop gang issued an ultimatum warning firms affected by the MOVEit hack to email them before 14 June or stolen data will be published.
Staffers at the BBC, British Airways and Boots are under threat that payroll data will be compromised.
More than 100,000 staffers could be affected.
The post, reports the BBC, reads: “This is announcement to educate companies who use Progress MOVEit product that chance is that we download a lot of your data as part of exceptional exploit.”
It comes as the latest breach of cybersecurity has been reported at the University of Manchester.
Muhammad Yahya Patel, lead security engineer at Check Point Software, said: “The education sector is heavily targeted by cyberattacks owing to the value and volume of the data they hold, and there is a much bigger knock on effect following these incidents.
“There is no getting around the reliance on technology in learning, but like any other organisation, good cyber hygiene goes a long way. “Unfortunately there is often less investment in education to underpin a robust cybersecurity strategy.
“While it might not be top of the agenda, a good incident response plan needs to account for critical impact and swift recovery.
“The advice given so far has been limited but I would be cautious about continuing on as usual until the university can be certain there are no more open entry points.”