How Whiteboard IT Stopped a Ransomware Attack for D'Youville University

Small colleges hold sensitive data but rarely have the staff, budget, or institutional history to build the security program that data requires. Networks grow organically over decades. Vendors get added. Contracts renew without anyone asking whether it all adds up to real protection.

When Joseph Gunnells became CIO at D'Youville University in Buffalo, New York, he knew exactly what he was looking at. His first call was to Steve Murphy, CEO of Whiteboard IT Solutions, a local MSP he'd known for years. Whiteboard's review confirmed the problem: multiple vendors, multiple products, none fully implemented, and no one dedicated to security. As contracts approached expiration, Whiteboard proposed a structured Todyl rollout timed to each contract sunset, closing gaps without paying twice. They started with Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and Managed Extended Detection and Response (MXDR).

Fifteen days into the proof of concept, Steve's phone rang at 4 AM. Todyl's MXDR team had detected a compromise in progress. Todyl was installed on the exact server in the path of the attack, and the platform caught the entire attack chain in real time. While Whiteboard and D'Youville's network administrator isolated the affected systems, Whiteboard quarterbacked the full response: coordinating with the cyber liability carrier, the incident response team, and the forensics firm, while guiding Joe through engaging a privacy lawyer, filing the FBI report, and communicating with the president's office.

The result was zero confirmed exfiltration. The incident changed the partnership itself. Whiteboard expanded from a security engagement into D'Youville's full strategic IT partner, and the original attack vector drove the move to Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), which replaced the VPN entirely.