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A Dutch university has recovered $550,000 it paid in a ransom for a 2019 hack of its networks that prevented students, faculty and staff from accessing their email, research and data platforms, Bloomberg reported.
The ransom was paid in response to an attack at the University of Maastricht on Dec. 23, 2019.
The university paid 30 Bitcoins in ransom, which at the time was worth about $218,000, according to a spokesperson from the university. The payment was made after “extremely difficult deliberations” in which university officials weighed police advice and the moral objection to paying a ransom.
In April of this year, the Dutch prosecution service was able to trace and seize some of the ransom: cryptocurrencies had increased in value to $550,000, according to the university.
The university plans to use the funds for students in financial difficulty.
