Wifi slower due to DDoS attack

Erasmus University is also experiencing disruptions caused by cyber-attacks targeting educational institutions. The Eduroam wifi network is reportedly slower due to an attack on the ICT organisation SURF, the university stated on its intranet.

At the time of writing, however, Eduroam seems to be functioning as usual. This is not the only attack this week, as most took place in the southern part of the country. After Eindhoven University of Technology (TU Eindhoven) temporarily shut down its network on Sunday, the internet at Fontys University of Applied Sciences was also disrupted by cyber-attacks, including at its Eindhoven location. However, these attacks do not appear to be related to the one on the university.

On Wednesday, a large part of Fontys’ network was down due to a DDoS attack, according to Bron, Fontys’ magazine. In such an attack, massive amounts of internet traffic are directed to a single point, causing it to collapse. Wifi, phones and other devices were rendered inoperable.

SURF, the shared ICT organisation for education, reported on Thursday that there were renewed attempts to disrupt the network ‘in the southern part of the country’, according to a spokesperson. “Last night, everything was eventually functioning properly again, but we can see the attacks have resumed.” Whether this will lead to further problems remains to be seen.

Other universities of applied sciences also reported network issues on Wednesday. According to SURF, this is possible because the organisation’s network connects all educational institutions. A local attack can therefore have a nationwide impact. The identity of the attackers remains unknown. SURF is monitoring the situation on grotestoring.nl.

The head of information security at Fontys believes the attack is likely unrelated to the issues at the neighbouring TU Eindhoven. Over the weekend, TU Eindhoven discovered attempts to hack its network.

On Wednesday, the university announced that it had caught digital intruders in the act over the weekend. By shutting down the network immediately, the university’s administration believes it ‘prevented a worse situation’. TU Eindhoven expects to resume normal teaching on Monday.