UK Police Investigate Islamophobic Hacking of Local Train Stations’ Wi-Fi
Published on September 27, 2024
- A disruptive cyberattack impacted Wi-Fi networks at major U.K. railway stations.
- The Telent-managed Wi-Fi systems were taken offline as soon as the breach was observed.
- The company announced no personal data was compromised during the security incident.
British Transport Police have launched an investigation following a cyberattack on Wi-Fi networks at major UK railway stations. The attack involved the display of Islamophobic messages to passengers attempting to use the affected services, according to the latest Reuters report.
This incident comes amidst heightened tensions in the UK following a spate of anti-Muslim riots. Previous misinformation falsely attributing attacks to an Islamist migrant has exacerbated the situation.Â
The Wi-Fi systems are managed by Telent, which swiftly took them offline after the breach was reported. The attack impacted Wi-Fi services at 19 notable train stations, including London Bridge, London Euston, Manchester Piccadilly, and Edinburgh Waverley.Â
Network Rail is managing the response in collaboration with British Transport Police to address the incident as soon as possible.
Telent confirmed that no personal data was compromised during the breach. An unauthorized modification to the Network Rail landing page facilitated through a legitimate administrator account from Global Reach was identified as the method of attack.Â
In response, Telent has suspended all Global Reach services to ensure no further disruptions to their operations or additional impacts to other customers.
The current focus remains on swiftly resolving the Wi-Fi service issues while maintaining stringent security checks to prevent recurrence. Network Rail anticipates restoring the Wi-Fi services over the weekend, contingent upon completing final security verifications to ensure the integrity of the network infrastructure.
In other recent news, Sweden officially named Iran as the orchestrator of a cyberattack targeting a local text messaging service. The Swedish Security Service (Sapo) disclosed that Iranian intelligence infiltrated the service to dispatch 15,000 messages urging retaliation against those involved in Quran-burning incidents.
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