Friday, September 27, 2024

Cyber attack hijacks public Wi-Fi at UK rail stations to spread Islamophobic messages


September 26, 2024 

A view of the train station in London, United Kingdom on August 09, 2023.
 [Raşid Necati Aslım – Anadolu Agency]

Passengers at some of the UK’s busiest rail stations were exposed to Islamophobic messages in a cyber security breach, disrupting public Wi-Fi services, officials said Thursday, Anadolu Agency reports.

The messages, shown on public Wi-Fi login pages late Wednesday, contained Islamophobic content and referenced a UK terror attack, sparking concerns among passengers trying to connect to the service.

Network Rail quickly suspended Wi-Fi access at all 19 affected stations nationwide, including several key stations – Manchester Piccadilly, Birmingham New Street, and 11 major stations across London, excluding St. Pancras.

The public Wi-Fi service, provided by a third-party contractor, operates independently and does not collect personal data, according to Network Rail.

A spokesperson said the breach was swiftly addressed and is currently under investigation.

“Last night, the public Wi-Fi at 19 of Network Rail’s managed stations was subjected to a cyber security incident and was quickly taken offline,” the spokesperson said. “Once our final security checks have been completed, we anticipate the service will be restored by the weekend.”

British Transport Police confirmed they were alerted to the attack late Wednesday afternoon. A spokesperson said that BTP is collaborating with Network Rail to investigate the breach.

Employee arrested over Islamophobic cyber attack on public wifi at major UK railway stations

By Rahmah Ghazali
Live Reporter
Published 26th Sep 2024, 19:20 BST

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A man has been arrested in connection with a cyber vandalism attack that targeted public wifi networks at some of the largest railway stations in the UK, displaying Islamophobic messages.

The hack, which occurred on Wednesday, affected wifi services at 19 major stations, including 10 in London.

British Transport Police confirmed that the suspect is an employee of Global Reach Technology, a company that provides wifi services to Network Rail. He was arrested on suspicion of offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and the Malicious Communications Act 1988.

The force added: “Officers received reports just after 5pm yesterday (September 25) of a breach of some Network Rail wifi services at railway stations which were displaying Islamophobic messaging. The abuse of access was restricted to the defacement of the splash pages, and no personal data is known to have been affected.”

A cyber attack has hit public wifi at some of the biggest railway stations in the country. | Simon Hulme

The affected London stations were Euston, Victoria, King’s Cross, London Bridge, Cannon Street, Charing Cross, Liverpool Street, Paddington, Clapham Junction, and Waterloo.

Other stations across the UK that were targeted include Manchester Piccadilly, Birmingham New Street, Glasgow Central, Leeds City, Liverpool Lime Street, Bristol Temple Meads, Edinburgh Waverley, Reading, and Guildford.

Man arrested after cyber vandalism hit wifi at UK’s biggest railway stations


Rosie Shead, Harry Stedman and Martyn Landi, PA
Thu, 26 Sept 2024, 12:11 pm GMT-62-min read

A man has been arrested after an act of cyber vandalism hit public wifi at some of the UK’s biggest railway stations, police said.

Manchester Piccadilly, Birmingham New Street, Edinburgh Waverley, Glasgow Central and 10 stations in London were among those affected by the incident on Wednesday, which saw passengers trying to log on instead being shown messages about terror attacks in Europe, according to reports.

The Manchester Evening News said the wifi landing page after the hack said “We love you, Europe” and contained information about terror attacks, which the British Transport Police (BTP) described as “Islamophobic messaging”.

On Thursday evening, BTP said a male employee of Global Reach, the company that provides wifi services to Network Rail, had been arrested on suspicion of offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and the Malicious Communications Act 1988.

The force added: “Officers received reports just after 5pm yesterday of a breach of some Network Rail wifi services at railway stations which were displaying Islamophobic messaging.

“The abuse of access was restricted to the defacement of the splash pages, and no personal data is known to have been affected.”

Network Rail, which manages the stations, suspended wifi services at stations across the country following what it described as a “cyber security incident”.

The only Network Rail-managed station not affected was St Pancras.

In a statement on Wednesday, the rail company said they hoped to restore public wifi services at its stations by the weekend once security checks had been completed.

– The stations affected are:

Birmingham New Street
Bristol Temple Meads
Edinburgh Waverley
Glasgow Central
Guildford
Leeds
Liverpool Lime Street
London Bridge
London Cannon Street
London Charing Cross
London Clapham Junction
London Euston
London King’s Cross
London Liverpool Street
London Paddington
London Victoria
London Waterloo
Manchester Piccadilly
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