University of Milano-Bicocca

The University of Milano-Bicocca is a higher education institution headquartered in Italy. Its operational scope includes academic programs and research activities, serving a student body and contributing to the educational landscape of the region. The university maintains an informatics department, which includes student laboratory facilities used for instructional purposes.

A documented cybersecurity incident occurred on May 12, 2017, when the university's informatics department building experienced a WannaCry ransomware infection. The attack vector was an external USB drive that introduced the malware to four or five student laboratory computers. These systems were isolated and not connected to institutional databases, a structural segregation that prevented any data compromise. The affected machines, used exclusively for student activities, underwent re-cloning and reformatting procedures before restoration. The incident remained fully contained with no broader network consequences, demonstrating the mitigating effect of network segmentation for critical systems. The response involved standard remediation practices for ransomware on isolated endpoints, and the source of the infection was traced to the physical media. This event provides a specific instance of the university's encounter with a widespread malware campaign, highlighting the importance of access controls and system isolation in an academic computing environment.