My data was accessed in a cyber attack on Nottingham uni – it could turn my world upside down

Victims of the University of Nottingham cyber attack said they feel “scared and anxious” after their data was accessed by a well-known hacking group.

On Wednesday, the university confirmed hackers had accessed personal, financial and university-related data from both current students and alumni.

In a statement, it confirmed a police investigation had been launched and that the Information Commissioner’s Office, the Office for Students and Report Fraud had been notified.

Tolu Olufunwa, 17-year-old A-level student who will study law at the university from September, told the BBC she was worried because the breach was “so serious.”

The London student first found out about the cyber-attack when an email from the university arrived in her inbox on Wednesday.

Tolu said the university was her first choice because of the campus, her course ranking highly on league tables and the social life, but said the data breach makes her feel unsure of what to expect: “I’m still excited to go but I feel like this, along with the financial stuff that’s going on, it’s just made me think ‘did I make the right decision?'”

via Unsplash

Jacob Edwards graduated from the University of Nottingham with a degree in English and German in 2025.

The 23-year-old from Norwich said his data had been hacked, and encouraged the university to better communicate what had happened.

He argued: “They should be helping people more directly because the information we have been given is so little and vague. I think more advice could have been given because they only shared what information has potentially been breached.”

The former Nottingham student added he struggled to cope with the news of the data leak: “It’s very scary. I don’t exactly come from a background of much money, and knowing that this could at any point affect me and turn my world upside down, is definitely nagging in the back of my head. I’m just trying not to overthink what the implications could be.”

However, it is not just students and alumni who are impacted.

Margaret Ladipo, 19, applied to study adult nursing at the university last year and was offered a place, but turned it down after accepting a place at another university. She has been told her personal data was also accessed in the attack.

She told the BBC that she “didn’t expect something like this to happen to a well-established Russell Group university,”

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Ladipo added that she had changed her bank details and all of her passwords to try and protect herself: “I got quite anxious because it [her data] contained really important information, like my national insurance number, which is information I wouldn’t want sharing with anyone.”