Rail passengers targeted in cyber security attacks on station Wi-Fi

A cyber attack on public Wi-Fi has caused disruption at 20 major railway stations across the UK.

Passengers reported being redirected to messages about terror attacks in Europe when attempting to log on to the Wi-Fi webpage at stations on Wednesday (25 September).

This includes at least 10 London stations, with Reading, Manchester Piccadilly, Bristol Temple Meads, Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central among affected stations.

St Pancras is understood to be the only station managed by Network Rail that was not impacted by the hack.

The message “We love you, Europe” also appeared on screen, reports Manchester Evening News.

Wi-Fi services were suspended by Network Rail at stations across the country following the “cyber security incident” and stil remain offline.

A spokesperson for Network Rail said: “We are currently dealing with a cyber security incident affecting the public wifi at Network Rail’s managed stations.”

“This service is provided via a third party and has been suspended while an investigation is under way.”

According to Network Rail, other organisations who use third-party Wi-Fi provider Telent have been impacted by the incident.

A Telent spokesperson said: “We are aware of the cyber security incident affecting the public Wi-Fi at Network Rail’s managed stations and are investigating with Network Rail and other stakeholders.

“We have been informed there is an ongoing investigation by the British Transport Police into this incident, so it would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage. We do not believe any other Telent customers or services provided by Telent are impacted.”

The British Transport Police are investigating the incident.

Stations affected by the cyber-security attack

For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calder’s podcast