Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Network Security

‘Likely Hacker Attack’ Hits Almost 1 Million German Homes

Internet service for almost one million households in Germany was disrupted by likely deliberate hacking, provider Deutsche Telekom said Monday.

Internet service for almost one million households in Germany was disrupted by likely deliberate hacking, provider Deutsche Telekom said Monday.

Around 900,000 customers using specific models of router have been affected since Sunday afternoon, the firm said, with some unable to connect at all while others suffered intermittent problems.

“We believe that influence was exerted on the routers from outside,” a Telekom spokesman told AFP, saying software had been installed on the devices that prevented them from connecting to the company’s network.

It did not provide details of which models of router — network hardware that connects households to their internet and telephone service provider — were affected.

Deutsche Telekom said that its engineers and colleagues from the companies that produce the devices had been working through the night to find a solution.

Customers affected have been advised to disconnect their routers from the network since the problems began on Sunday afternoon.

Germany has been the target of repeated cyber attacks in recent years.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

In September, several political parties were targeted with fake emails purporting to be from NATO headquarters but which in fact contained a link that installed spying software on victims’ computers.

Meanwhile, hackers targeted the Bundestag (German parliament) in a 2015 attack that security services have since blamed on Russia.

With federal elections slated for autumn 2017, Germany has anxiously eyed the impact of leaked documents obtained by hackers on the US presidential polls this year.

US authorities have accused Russia of orchestrating the leak of emails from the Democratic National Committee that embarrassed candidate Hillary Clinton.

A cyber attack in October also made large portions of the US internet unavailable for millions of users worldwide. 

Written By

AFP 2023

Click to comment

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Join security experts as they discuss ZTNA’s untapped potential to both reduce cyber risk and empower the business.

Register

Join Microsoft and Finite State for a webinar that will introduce a new strategy for securing the software supply chain.

Register

Expert Insights

Related Content

Identity & Access

Zero trust is not a replacement for identity and access management (IAM), but is the extension of IAM principles from people to everyone and...

Cybersecurity Funding

Network security provider Corsa Security last week announced that it has raised $10 million from Roadmap Capital. To date, the company has raised $50...

Network Security

Attack surface management is nothing short of a complete methodology for providing effective cybersecurity. It doesn’t seek to protect everything, but concentrates on areas...

Identity & Access

Hackers rarely hack in anymore. They log in using stolen, weak, default, or otherwise compromised credentials. That’s why it’s so critical to break the...

Cyberwarfare

Websites of German airports, administration bodies and banks were hit by DDoS attacks attributed to Russian hacker group Killnet

Network Security

NSA publishes guidance to help system administrators identify and mitigate cyber risks associated with transitioning to IPv6.

Application Security

Fortinet on Monday issued an emergency patch to cover a severe vulnerability in its FortiOS SSL-VPN product, warning that hackers have already exploited the...

Application Security

Virtualization technology giant VMware on Tuesday shipped urgent updates to fix a trio of security problems in multiple software products, including a virtual machine...