Maricopa Community Colleges reported its internet technology systems have been down since Tuesday, affecting coursework for thousands of students. 

As of Friday, the school system has continued to cite “emergency maintenance” in communications to students.

“We apologize for the inconvenience our students may experience during this outage,” the District said in a Facebook post Tuesday when the system initially went down. 

In an email sent to The Republic Friday, Dasi Danzig, a district spokesperson, said the shutdown was a result of “unauthorized, suspicious” activity in their network, which appears to be “the early stages of a cyberattack.”

“We continue to investigate this situation while simultaneously restoring applications to ensure system security,” Danzig wrote. “We are working with our forensic partners to ensure our systems are secure so we can reestablish connectivity and resume business as usual.”

The outage means platforms such as MyInfo, Canvas, RioLearn, Maricopa email, Maricopa Google Tools and the Student Information System/Student Center are unavailable — resources students need to be able to access assignments and communicate with staff. 

“Alert messages are being sent to subscribed students, staff and community members via the Emergency Messaging System, RAVE, and posted on our social media platforms,” the District said in a statement on its website Thursday evening. 

Emma Daniels, an early education major at Rio Salado Community College, said students only received a generic email and text message Tuesday afternoon stating “ALL MCCCD (Maricopa County Community Colleges District) IT systems are down for emergency maintenance & our unavailable. Updates will be sent when more is known.” 

As of Friday afternoon, no additional information has been provided to students, she said. Daniels said she has been frustrated with the silence from her school, leaving her and her peers to question what the outage means for student security. 

Daniels attributed her fears to a massive computer-system breach in November 2013 that cost MCCCD nearly $26 million. The 10-college district revealed hackers exposed personal data, including Social Security numbers and banking information, of more than 2 million people, including current and former students, staff and vendors, from as far back as 30 years.

“Because of how long it’s taking them to fix the issue and the complete lack of transparency, it leaves me and many other students concerned that our information is at risk,” she told The Arizona Republic Friday. 

Some MCCCD students were on spring break from March 15 to March 22, but for completely online students like Daniels who don’t have a break, the outage puts them at least a week behind in their work.

“This is especially stressful because I am taking 8-week accelerated courses, as are many other students. Even for those who do have spring break, I know a lot of them were planning on catching up on their work during this time so it has been extremely inconvenient for everyone,” Daniels said.

Daniels said students at Rio Salado have been told professors will provide extensions for work, but until MCCCD reveals what caused the shutdown, work is the least of her worries. 

“Even though it’s tough to be behind on schoolwork, the biggest concern is definitely the security of our personal information. I know I’m not alone in saying I’m so incredibly disappointed in MCCCD’s lack of communication about this issue — it’s very concerning,” she said. 

The district said it does not have a timetable as to when access will be restored.

Reach breaking news editor Kaila White at [email protected] or on Twitter @kailawhite.

Reach the reporter Jamie Landers at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @jamielandersx

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