Northern Marianas College today announced that it is responding to unauthorized access to part of its computer network. The College acted right away to contain the incident, which occurred between June 3 and June 12, 2026, and has been working with federal cybersecurity and law enforcement partners. NMC is reviewing what information may have been involved and will notify affected individuals directly. Updates are available at marianas.edu/cybersecurityupdate.
NMC's student information and learning systems, the cloud-hosted versions of Ellucian Colleague (including Portal+) and Moodle, were not part of the compromised systems and are safe to use. Before the incident, the College had already begun moving these services to secure online providers to strengthen how it protects the data entrusted to it.
NMC continues to partner and cooperate with federal authorities, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), while the investigation is ongoing. As required by law, the College has also reported the incident to the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Federal Student Aid.
It’s important to note that no ransom was sought from the College, and none was paid.
No evidence that information was taken
A detailed digital forensic investigation has found no evidence that personal information was copied or taken from the College's systems. The review identified one attempt to send information out of the network, and that attempt failed.
However, some of the College's computer records from that period are incomplete, so NMC cannot say for certain that no information was taken. Because the intruder gained a high level of access, personal information stored on the College's older computer systems could have been reached. Out of caution, and to be open with the community, the College is sharing this information publicly.
The types of information that could have been reached include full names; student identification numbers; Social Security numbers; dates of birth; home addresses, email addresses and phone numbers; academic records such as enrollment history, grades and transcripts; financial aid records such as award amounts and payment information; and parent or guardian information from financial aid applications. Because the older systems hold records from prior years, former students may be included.
“The College's first priority was to stop the activity and then understand exactly what happened. We have found no evidence that anyone's information was taken, but we cannot rule it out completely, and our students and their families deserve to know that. We are sharing what we know now and the free steps everyone can take to protect themselves.” said Frankie Eliptico, Northern Marianas College Senior Vice President of Administration and Advancement.
What NMC has done
NMC closed the pathway the intruder used and rebuilt or replaced the affected computer systems. The College removed older network connections that were no longer needed, is adding new tools that continuously watch its systems for suspicious activity and keep detailed records of that activity, and is reviewing and strengthening its information security policies and practices.
What the community can do
NMC encourages all past and current students, and parents or guardians who completed financial aid applications, to take these free steps:
- Check accounts and credit reports. Review bank, credit card and health insurance statements for anything unfamiliar. Free credit reports from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion are available as often as once a week at www.annualcreditreport.com or by calling 1-877-322-8228.
- Consider a fraud alert or security freeze. Both are free. A fraud alert can be placed by contacting any one of the three credit bureaus; a freeze must be placed with each bureau separately.
- Protect against tax fraud. Because Social Security numbers could have been reached, individuals may request a free Identity Protection PIN from the IRS at www.irs.gov/ippin.
- Watch for scams. Be cautious of unexpected emails, texts or calls that ask for personal or financial information, including messages that mention this incident or claim to be from NMC. NMC will not ask for Social Security numbers, passwords or financial account numbers in messages about this incident.
More information on protecting against identity theft is available from the Federal Trade Commission at www.identitytheft.gov or 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338).
Anyone with questions, or who wants to know whether their records were among those that could have been reached, can go online to www.marianas.edu/cybersecurityupdate or call NMC’s Cyber Security Hotline at (670) 237-6711 (available on weekdays from 9:00am to 3:00pm, ChST).