Cyber ​​attack hits Eindhoven University, major consequences for education

TU Eindhoven took down its network on Sunday due to a cyber attack. Because the network is offline, students and employees of the technical university cannot use ‘network-related’ facilities, such as e-mail and WiFi. The university will therefore not provide any teaching on Monday. Patrick Groothuis, vice-chairman of TU/e, acknowledges that switching off the systems has major consequences. “This necessary intervention was done to prevent worse outcomes.”

The exact nature of the cyber attack is still being investigated. The attack was discovered on Saturday evening by the IT people at TU/e. A university spokesperson cannot say much about how exactly this was done in view of the investigation that is now being conducted. “But it has all the hallmarks of a cyber attack given the suspicious activity on our servers.”

It is still unclear who exactly is behind it. There is no contact with a hacking party, the spokesperson said. There would also be no question of a hostage situation, no systems were blocked.

When asked whether there is sensitive or even secret data on the TU/e ​​networks, the spokesperson answers affirmatively. “In principle, all the usual data associated with a university’s business operations are on the systems.” Whether data was stolen is still being investigated. “But so far there are no signs of that.”

The police are aware and are in contact with the university, a police spokesperson said.

According to TU/e, ICT experts still have access to all systems. They are currently investigating the nature and extent of the cyber attack and are trying to get the network operational again as quickly as possible.

Education
No educational activities are possible for the time being, at least until Monday.

The university expects the network to be accessible again on Tuesday at the earliest. ‘Limited education’ was planned in Eindhoven this week, such as catch-up activities and exam preparation. The TU buildings and campus remain accessible.

Vice-chairman Groothuis hopes for understanding for taking the network off the air. “We are doing our utmost to resolve this and make all systems accessible again as quickly as possible.”

Attack Maastricht
In 2019, Maastricht University was hit by a ransomware attack. With ransomware, files are made inaccessible until the victim pays. To release everything again, the hackers demanded 200,000 euros in bitcoins. After a week, the university decided to transfer the amount. That money was recovered in 2022.

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