College of the Desert continues to work to restore online/phone access after ‘computer network disruption’

College of the Desert continues to work to fix a "computer network disruption" that has affected online and phone access for more than a week.

Since July 5, the computer outage has affected student and staff access to various College of the Desert online services, including email, phone, and internet access.

COD officials told News Channel 3's Jennifer Franco last week that a federal investigation is underway after administrators contacted the FBI.

News Channel 3 reached out to COD officials on Wednesday to get an update on the outage.

"IT and 3rd party contractors continue to work to restore email, phone, and internet access. As services come back online and testing is complete we will notify the entire campus community and public. Thank you for your continued patience as we navigate, repair and continue to strengthen our technology to minimize further disrputions

- COD response

While the school works to restore access, a temporary website – www.CODnews.org – has been set up to provide updates and access for available student services resources, such as counseling and summer class resources.

A spokesperson for the school said officials have answered 350 questions submitted to the temporary website. In addition, students have been utilizing the zoom drop-in hours.

We spoke with students on campus to see how the outage is affecting their days.

“Canvas was still working thankfully so we can still do work,” said Zachary Contreras, a student at COD. "Right now we just came out of class, so we don’t have internet so that’s kind of an issue,” he added.

Another student said she was having issues being able to reach teachers.

“Yesterday I tried to email my professor saying how I wasn't going to be able to attend class, and apparently he never got the email,” said Darinka Rivera, a COD student.

Last week, Jennifer Franco asked whether any students' information may have been compromised.

“I don’t want to speculate as to what has been because we’re still doing our investigation," said COD Public Information Officer Nicholas Robles.

In 2020, the COD website fell victim to a malware attack, wiping out access to online services and email.

The investigation remains ongoing. The next update briefing is expected to come later today, possibly after 5:00 p.m.

Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing updates.