University of Massachusetts Lowell cancels classes after possible 'cybersecurity incident'

The University of Massachusetts Lowell canceled all in-person and online classes for the second day following a "cybersecurity incident," the school said.

The public research university has been keeping staff and students updated on the breach on the temporary website UMassLowell.com while the school's main website remains unavailable.

Officials reported the incident Tuesday and said in an online statement that the university, including its Haverhill campus, was closed "due to an IT outage."

An updated statement was later posted that said the Information Technology department was investigating a "possible cybersecurity incident that is affecting technology services."

"UMass Lowell continues to retain control over its IT infrastructure and is working with a leading cyber forensics firm to identify, evaluate and eliminate any issues that are discovered," the university said. "Out of an abundance of caution, all network communications have been suspended by the university to and from the campus network while the scope of the incident is evaluated."

The breach also halted all business operations at the university. There's no timeframe on when services may be fully restored, the university said.