Duisburg/Essen (dpa/lnw) – For the second time within a few weeks, the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) has become the target of a hacker attack. A university spokesman for the German Press Agency said on Wednesday on request. This time, after the first cyber attack, the temporary website was “massively attacked”. The new website was no longer available on Wednesday. Several media had previously reported.
During the first attack on November 27, the entire IT system, including landline telephony, was paralyzed. Only gradually could the experts restore or replace some digital services. Nevertheless, teaching with more than 40,000 students was massively restricted.
After the new hacker attack, the university management asked the students and teaching staff to renew their passwords via social media such as Twitter. “We are working flat out on solutions,” said the spokesman for the university.
Face-to-face lectures resumed after the first attack 17 days ago, but digital access to teaching materials, registering for and de-registering for exams or uploading work was not possible for a long time.
During the attack, hackers penetrated the internal systems, encrypted large parts and demanded a ransom, it was said. The university had shut down the IT, informed the responsible security authorities and reported it. The central and contact point for cybercrime (ZAC) at the Cologne public prosecutor’s office has been leading the investigation since then. The spokesman there, Christoph Hebbecker, expects the process to last months, probably with international implications.
