UK Railway Stations' Public Wi-Fi Network Hit by Cyber Attack

A cyber-attack has compromised the public Wi-Fi at 19 railway stations managed by Network Rail. The incident, now under investigation by British Transport Police, led to the service being taken offline. The affected stations include major hubs like London Euston, Paddington, and Manchester Piccadilly.

A cyber-attack has rendered the public Wi-Fi network at 19 railway stations across the UK inaccessible. The British Transport Police (BTP) is currently investigating the incident, which primarily affected stations managed by Network Rail, including London Euston, Paddington, and Manchester Piccadilly.

Network Rail reported that the Wi-Fi systems were quickly taken offline once the attack was identified. Trains stations such as Liverpool Lime Street, Birmingham New Street, Edinburgh Waverley, and Glasgow Central were also targeted. Passengers attempting to connect were met with messages concerning terror attacks in Europe.

A Network Rail spokesperson stated, ''The public Wi-Fi at 19 of Network Rail's managed stations was subjected to a cyber security incident last night and was quickly taken offline.'' The spokesperson added that the Wi-Fi service, provided by a third party, does not collect personal data and is expected to be restored by the weekend following final security checks.

Telent, the company responsible for managing the Wi-Fi, attributed the attack to unauthorized changes made via a legitimate Global Reach administrator account. The BTP confirmed they received reports of the cyber attack at 5.03pm on Wednesday and are investigating the incident, which displayed Islamophobic messages on some networks. This follows a recent cyber-attack on Transport for London, leading to concerns over customer data security.

(With inputs from agencies.)