Major train stations across the UK have been hit by cyber-attacks, including two of the biggest stations in Scotland.

Edinburgh’s Waverley Station and Glasgow Central were among those affected after public WiFi networks were targeted in a ‘cybersecurity incident’.

In all, nineteen train stations around the country have reportedly been impacted, including London Euston, Manchester Piccadilly and Birmingham New Street all having their WiFi services suspended Wednesday night, and were still down as of Thursday morning.

According to passenger reports, the hacked WiFi networks were directing users to a page about terror attacks in Europe featuring Islamophobic messages.

A Network Rail spokesperson confirmed that it was actively managing the crisis, with an investigation already underway, however no details have yet been made public.

Network Rail’s WiFi provider, Telent, said it was investigating the matter with a spokesperson saying: “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.”

The British Transport Police said that the incident was initially reported yesterday afternoon, with investigative work now taking place.

This is the second time this month that major public transport networks have faced cyber-attacks.

On September 1st, a cyber-attack affected Transport for London (TfL) services, causing minimal disruption but potentially leaking customer data to hackers. Following the incident, a 17-year old was arrested on suspicion of offences under the Computer Misuse Act after an investigation by the National Crime Agency.

At the time, it was reported that around 5,000 customer’s banking details, including account numbers and sort codes, could have been accessed as a result of the attack, with names, emails, and home addresses able to be accessed.

This latest incident will put further pressure on public transport providers to beef up their cybersecurity protections to meet the evolving tactics of attackers, with critical infrastructure under threat.

Recommended reading

• UK Businesses Face New Cyber-attacks Every 44 Seconds in Q2 2024
• Ransomware Crisis Escalating Globally, New Report Shows
• Teenager Arrested In Relation to Transport for London Cyber-attack
  

“We don’t know who carried out the attack, but it is clearly being used to ignite fear in the UK public and to voice a strong political message” said William Wright, CEO of Closed Door Security.

“It looks like the assault actually took place against the WiFi provider of UK train stations, so this is yet another supply chain attack that has harmed UK critical national infrastructure. Other organisations should once again use this incident as a reminder to improve their defences against attacks and to ensure all suppliers practise good cyber security hygiene.”