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NASHVILLE—With Vanderbilt football’s first matchup against Alabama since it upset the then-No. 1 Crimson Tide at FirstBank Stadium, its campus was the subject of a national news story.
In the leadup to the Saturday-afternoon matchup, Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea and company have been tasked with working around a hack in the university’s computer system. BYOD, a ransomware group, has declared that it was behind the attack.
“We are responding to an active cybersecurity incident that may affect university devices, systems and cloud-based services. Our Information Technology team is investigating and working to contain the situation,” the university said in a statement to its students and faculty on November 9. “We are asking all members of the university community to shut down university devices, disconnect from university Wi-Fi and remain extremely vigilant. Take immediate action if you notice any unusual or suspicious activity on your devices.”’
In the midst of the restoration efforts, Vanderbilt will take the field Saturday against Alabama looking to upset the No. 3–in the College Football Playoff rankings–Crimson Tide. Lea and his staff haven’t altered any significant plans as a result of the hacking, but have had to be cognizant of it throughout the week.
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“There have been some hiccups, but on the whole we haven't really experienced anything too extreme,” Lea said. “It'd be like our printer connection and things like that. It wasn't too long ago that we were just riding out practice plans on a blank piece of paper. So we were able to get through it just fine, and hopefully the campus is recovering and yeah, we've made it through alright.”
Vanderbilt shared yesterday in a statement that it anticipates that “it may take multiple weeks to fully restore normal operations across all systems, but systems, applications and services will be restored in a deliberate and secure manner as work progresses” as a result of the hacking. The university says it’s “prioritizing crucial business operations across the university, including payroll, payment services, admissions, course registration and public safety.” A number of Vanderbilt’s software systems and applications have been restored, including email, campus print, Zoom, enrollment services and campus wifi.
Lea and company picked up their first SEC win of the 2026 season against Mississippi State to move to 4-5 on the year. They are heavy underdogs as Alabama comes to town, but believe there’s a path to knocking off the Crimson Tide. That path doesn’t appear to have been disrupted much by Vanderbilt’s on-campus hacking.
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Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Basket Under Review and Mainstreet Nashville.
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