Opinion: ID Recovery Helps Higher Ed Fight Double Extortion

A wave of double extortion ransomware attacks is sweeping across U.S. universities, with the University of Oklahoma (OU) becoming a recent victim over the 2024-2025 winter break. The attack, attributed to the Fog ransomware group, saw cyber criminals breach OU’s network, exfiltrating 91 megabytes of sensitive data, including employee contacts, financial records and state senators’ emails. The Fog ransomware group, which first appeared in 2024, is known for double extortion tactics: Not only do they encrypt institutional data, but they also threaten to leak stolen information to dedicated websites if their ransom demands are not met — a strategy designed to maximize pressure on students, their families and faculty.

During these attacks, cyber criminals increasingly target identity systems and steal sensitive data before unleashing ransomware, underscoring the urgent need for higher education institutions to strengthen their cyber resilience. In response, rapid identity recovery — securely restoring compromised services like Active Directory and Entra ID — has become a critical defense against the escalating threat of double extortion attacks.

LIMITATIONS OF LEGACY DATA BACKUPS

Given the limitations of traditional methods of data backup, such as manual processes, outdated backups and piecemeal restoration, these approaches leave higher education institutions vulnerable to reinfections or lingering threats. Attackers may specifically target identity systems, corrupting them or leaving behind back doors for future attacks. Failure to properly recover identity systems can expose institutions, students and staff to further damage.

WHY IDENTITY SYSTEMS MATTER

Identity systems, such as Microsoft Active Directory and Entra ID, are the backbone of many campus operations. They control access to student records, research data, payroll and countless digital platforms. Compromising these systems can bring an entire institution to a complete stop. Quick and secure restoration of identity systems is essential, not just for IT, but for the continued functioning of the college or university as a whole.

WHAT MODERN IDENTITY RECOVERY LOOKS LIKE

Modern identity recovery tactics are vital for today’s higher education institutions, especially as they face increasingly sophisticated ransomware threats. These approaches can protect and quickly restore access to critical systems, even in the most challenging situations.

One key tactic is maintaining immutable backups of data, which means that if hackers manage to break into the main systems, there is always a clean, untouched copy of data stored offsite. Another important method is called clean-room recovery, where identity systems are restored in a secure, isolated environment before being reconnected to the main network. This method helps ensure there are no hidden threats and the restored systems are safe to use.

Additionally, some modern recovery tactics enable granular restoration. Instead of restoring an entire system after an incident, IT teams can quickly recover just the specific user accounts or groups that were affected, minimizing disruption.

Since many institutions now use both on-premise and cloud-based identity systems, unified hybrid recovery platforms have become crucial. These platforms enable management and restoration of access across all environments, helping to keep operations running smoothly.

Finally, if the original system is too compromised to trust, alternate host recovery allows institutions to restore identity services to a new, clean system, blocking attackers from regaining access. These strategies form a strong foundation for cyber resilience, helping institutions stay secure and bounce back quickly from double extortion ransomware and other cyber attacks.

KEY STRATEGIES TO COMBAT DOUBLE EXTORTION RANSOMWARE

To put these principles into action, higher education institutions should:

• Integrate identity recovery into incident response plans: Make identity recovery a central part of campus cyber incident playbooks, with clear roles and responsibilities.
• Test and validate recovery workflows: Run regular tabletop exercises and live drills to ensure teams can execute rapid recovery under pressure.
• Foster collaboration: Break down silos between IT, security, compliance and academic leadership to align data recovery priorities and protocols.
• Prioritize zero trust and access controls: Implement multifactor authentication, role-based access and least-privilege principles across all identity systems.
• Educate the campus community: Train staff, faculty and students on the importance of identity security and their role in protecting the institution.

The ability to recover identity systems swiftly and securely is now the linchpin of cyber resilience in higher education, which is particularly crucial in combating an increase in double extortion attacks. By deploying modern identity recovery tactics and integrating them into their cyber resilience strategies, colleges and universities can reduce downtime, prevent reinfections and maintain trust with their communities. In a world where digital trust is everything, the future of higher education depends on getting identity recovery right — quickly, confidently and comprehensively.

Lou Karu is the area vice president of U.S. SLED (state and local government and education) at the data security company Rubrik.