MathWorks, the Massachusetts-based developer of the widely utilized MATLAB programming platform, has officially confirmed that a ransomware attack severely disrupted its services for over a week, impacting millions of engineers, scientists, and students globally. The company disclosed the nature of the incident on May 26, 2025, following initial reports of technical issues on May 18.
Timeline of the Attack
The ransomware attack commenced on Sunday, May 18, 2025, targeting MathWorks’ IT infrastructure and causing extensive outages across multiple online applications and internal systems. For more than a week, the company provided limited status updates, stating only that they were continuing to investigate this issue without revealing the true nature of the cybersecurity incident.
In an official statement, MathWorks confirmed the ransomware attack:
MathWorks experienced a ransomware attack. We have notified federal law enforcement of this matter. The attack affected our IT systems.
The company emphasized its collaboration with cybersecurity experts to restore affected systems and its engagement with federal law enforcement agencies in the ongoing investigation.
Impact on Services
The attack significantly affected critical MathWorks services, including MATLAB Online, the License Center, File Exchange, Cloud Center, and the MathWorks Store. The licensing server outage was particularly problematic, as users were unable to verify their licenses to authenticate into web-based services. This authentication failure left many customers unable to access MATLAB’s online features, which are increasingly popular in educational settings.
While MATLAB Online and MATLAB Mobile have been restored, followed by MATLAB Grader and Cody, several services remain affected. The File Exchange is operating in a degraded state, and the License Center continues to experience issues. Some commercial customers with self-hosted licensing servers were less impacted, highlighting the vulnerability of cloud-dependent authentication systems.
Academic Community Disruption
The timing of the attack was particularly devastating for the academic community, occurring during peak exam season when students rely heavily on MATLAB for thesis submissions and coursework. With over 5 million users worldwide and adoption across more than 6,500 colleges and universities, the outage created widespread disruption.
Frustrated users on Reddit reported resorting to desperate measures, including pirating the software despite holding legitimate licenses. One user commented:
I am done with MATLAB’s lack of explanation, so I just pirated it. I do have a genuine license, and since they can’t deliver the service I rightfully paid, I am going to pirate the hell out of it.
Students and researchers described being unable to progress with critical projects, with one stating:
My entire research is at a stage where I [cannot] do anything without MATLAB.
Broader Context of Ransomware Attacks
This incident underscores the growing sophistication of ransomware attacks targeting enterprise software companies. In the first quarter of 2025, cyber attacks per organization increased by 47%, reaching an average of 1,925 weekly attacks. Ransomware attacks rose by 126%, with North America accounting for 62% of global incidents. The education sector was the hardest hit, averaging 4,484 attacks per organization each week—a 73% increase from the previous year. ([blog.checkpoint.com](https://blog.checkpoint.com/research/q1-2025-global-cyber-attack-report-from-check-point-software-an-almost-50-surge-in-cyber-threats-worldwide-with-a-rise-of-126-in-ransomware-attacks/?utm_source=openai))
As cybersecurity threats continue to evolve, organizations like MathWorks face increasing pressure to implement robust security measures while maintaining the accessibility that makes their platforms valuable to millions of users worldwide.
