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Classes and educational activities remain on pause after hackers breached Eindhoven University of Technology’s networks over the weekend.
Lectures and classes at the Netherland’s Eindhoven University of Technology are still cancelled after hackers were able to breach the university’s networks over the weekend.IT staff noticed a lot of suspicious activity on the university’s digital network at 9 pm local time on Saturday. They’ve since taken the decision to take the servers offline until the problem is resolved.The breach has affected students and faculty tremendously. Students are unable to access their course materials, and are thus unable to complete their tasks. Staff were also unable to access the platforms needed to conduct meetings, prepare materials for classes and general logistics, leading to the postponement of many plans.“I am an employee and some things can still go ahead, like some meetings,” said an employee at the University.The cyberattack came at a time when students were preparing for their post-holiday exams and assessments, frustrating many. “It is annoying. We have exams next week and at the moment we cannot access the course material,” said a student at Eindhoven University of Technology, who did not provide their name.Students have been pleading the university to delay deadlines and postpone exam dates following the breach. “It is definitely a problem of course. They need to find some solution. If everything isn’t fixed tomorrow, then at least change the deadlines,” said another student.Eindhoven University of Technology, or better known by its acronym TU/e, has been the recipient of major cyberattacks in the past. Some students believe the repetitive nature of these attacks constitutes a major problem.“This is also not the first time that the university gets hacked. I think it’s just like a major problem. For example, the way the university gets hacked is more advanced every time. I think now with the development of AI fishing is more advanced than other techniques that hackers may deploy. Maybe the university needs funds to secure its systems, because the research done here is really important.”Harm Griffioen, an Assistant Professor of Cybersecurity at Delft University of Technology says the university has been making “a lot of progress in scientific research”, making it attractive to criminals.“Criminals can attack universities but they could also be countries. There is a lot of progress in scientific research and part of that progress comes from the Netherlands. So, there are countries that are very interested in the progress that we are making.”Griffioen added that attacks on a network are difficult at first breach, but get progressively easier once you’ve gained access into the system. This makes fighting the cyberattack more difficult, as the targeted network areas become larger.Eindhoven University of Technology announced on Tuesday that exams and assessments scheduled for 20 January will be postponed one week.It also added that its IT departments are continuing to fight the attack on its networks, noting that it believes students should be able to connect to the network again next Monday.
