Kolhapur (Maharashtra), Sep 22 (IANS): The Shivaji University Kolhapur (SUK) managed to successfully stonewall a potentially damaging cyber-attack on its computer system recently, an official said here on Friday.

The cyber attack was detected on September 14 at 5.30 pm and the security systems were put on high alert, but a slowdown in the network was noticed, the official said.

"Fortunately, we have an excellent firewall system, so we managed to thwart and 'abort' the cyber attack. All our data is safe and there is no cause for worry," SUK Vice-Chancellor Devanand Shinde told IANS.

He said software teams and police have identified an IP address from where the malware attack was purportedly launched and a further probe is on to trace the culprits through it.

Some unconfirmed TV reports claimed that the cyber-attack might have originated from China, but Shinde declined to comment as investigations are under way.

SUK officials said the university is currently engaged in the work of several crucial examinations and any such malware attack on its systems could have played havoc with the students' careers.

This is the second instance when a major government institution has been targeted in the state in less than two months.

On August 11 and 13, an international gang of hackers carried out cyber attacks on the Cosmos Cooperative Bank Ltd Pune and siphoned off a total of Rs 94.24 crore, stunning the country's banking sector.