'We have tried to reassure our students as best we could'
When she heard about the cyberattack on our university on Sunday morning, Robin Verhagen鈥檚 first thought was: 鈥榃hat are the consequences of this for our students?鈥�. That was the right mindset for her role as coordinator of the helpdesk of 果冻传媒 and Student Affairs (ESA). Together with a team of staff from ESA, the International Office, and the Communication Expertise Centre (CEC), she answered thousands of questions from current and future students.
鈥淭here were a lot of uncertainties on that Sunday. All systems had been taken offline; students couldn鈥檛 access anything, and the exams were coming up. Students immediately had many questions they could ask us via WhatsApp, the university鈥檚 social channels, and at the ESA desk. The desk is normally open between 12 noon and 2 pm daily, but we kept it open all day.鈥�
In total, many ESA employees were busy on campus every day. 鈥淲e tried to reassure the large influx of students as best we could,鈥� says Verhagen.
鈥淐ertainly, in the beginning, students had many questions that we could not answer. We also did not know what would happen to the exams and education on the first day. We told them that honestly, we wanted to give them the feeling that they and their problem were in our picture.鈥�
At the front of the process
鈥淲e worked systematically. We kept an overview of the questions we could not yet answer. These went to the ESA team leaders, who started working on it. With their answers, we could make an FAQ for answers to frequently asked questions. Every day at half past three, we received an update from our management. That worked well.鈥�
After two days, on Tuesday, it was decided that all education and exams would be postponed for a week. This led to many new questions from students. Some had booked a holiday for their exams during the education-free week or had planned a visit to their parents abroad. Solutions had to be found for that.
Students reacted understandingly. They knew that we had no influence on what was going on.
Robin Verhagen
Verhagen had expected it to have been more stressful, with panicky and angry students at the desk. 鈥淚 thought they reacted understandingly. They knew that we had no influence on what was going on.鈥�
鈥淲e have students from different cultures, and everyone reacts differently. Internationals are often very grateful to have a first point of contact to go to. That's what I like about this work.鈥�
Special room for Osiris
All major online systems were down. It was inconvenient for Verhagen and her team to have no access to Osiris, which contains all student data. 鈥淎s a result, I was often unable to answer their specific situation during conversations with students because I could not view the data.鈥�
鈥淚n the first week, a special room was set up with several computers that could access Osiris via a protected connection. Colleagues would go there to solve substantive personal questions.鈥�
A simple click of the mouse can have far-reaching consequences, so stay alert!
Robin Verhagen
If there is one thing Verhagen has learned from this crisis, it is that you should always remain alert to cybersecurity, such as phishing emails. 鈥淎 simple click of the mouse can have far-reaching consequences, so stay alert!鈥�
鈥淭he cyberattack and its aftermath were very annoying, and it shows how vulnerable we are. But we all put our shoulders to the wheel as one team. I am proud of how well we have worked together, how flexible we have been, and how we have thought of solutions instead of problems.鈥�