Telekom service disruptions Cyber attack takes 900,000 households offline
Around 900,000 Telekom customers experienced internet outages. The German Federal Office for Information Security is calling it a worldwide cyber attack.
Beginning on Sunday afternoon, hundreds of thousands of Deutsche Telekom customers were affected by a major disruption. Phones were dead, TV programs disappeared and the internet was down. At first, the reason for the disruptions was unknown but now it is believed that a cyber attack could have been the cause. Telekom spokesperson René Bresgen said on Monday morning: "There are indications of a hacker attack." Already in the afternoon, the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) in Bonn indicated that it had to do with a worldwide attack on DSL-Routers. The BSI said the goal of the hackers was to infect the attacked devices with malware.
The key to the disruptions are the routers in private households which allow customers to access the network. It was especially the Telekom Speedport which suddenly allowed no connection to the internet. In some cases, the disruption was lifted by unplugging the router for a short time but in other cases, this did not help restore service.
Vulnerability of routers to malicious software from the outside is a known problem. The BSI warns against this weakness in its assessment of cyber security. The number of critical problems with routers has increased drastically. Manipulated routers allow the hacker to access communication data of the user. Experts say, "Router owners should periodically install security updates for their devices or use the automatic update feature.” In addition, access to the WLAN of the router must be secured with an individual key in order to prevent attacks.
Telekom tried to sooth customers by donating unlimited data passes on the mobile network and informing them as the situation improved, with more customers gaining access to the internet again. The incident makes clear how much a smoothly functioning internet is integral to daily life. Billions of devices, from the coffee machine to the car to the nuclear power station, are networked - and are increasingly threatened by cyberattacks. The BSI emphasizes that the threat will only become more complex with increased digitalization.
(Orig. text: Florian Ludwig)
