Wi-Fi difficulties result of cyberattack on BU

After many Boston University students reported having difficulties accessing wireless Internet over the weekend, BU officials have determined the issues are the results of the BU wireless network’s denial of an outside attack.

“We believe the problem with certain wireless network locations is related to a denial of service attack directed at us over the weekend that may have interfered with specific wireless radios on campus for reasons which have yet to be determined,” said Information and Technology Services Desk Manager David Cole.

BU IT Associate Vice President Michael Krugman said in a statement that IS&T is currently addressing remaining problems with Wi-Fi on campus, Cole said.

“We haven’t seen this sort of problem before, and we and others are often the target of such attacks, but this one was unusually intense,” Cole said. “We’re addressing remaining issues on a case-by-case basis.”

Students said they experienced difficulty in random locations across campus, including residence halls on Bay State Road and on West Campus, as well as several buildings on Central Campus.

College of Arts and Sciences freshman Simrat Dhaliwal, who lives on the sixth floor of Kilachand Hall, said she has experienced difficulties with Wi-Fi in her residences as well as other places on campus, such as CAS and Morse Auditorium.

“It’s Central and East Campus,” Dhaliwal said. “The problem with it is when you go online, it takes about five minutes.”

Bay State Road resident Nikiga Shah, a Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences sophomore, said her wireless Internet connection would sporadically drop throughout the weekend at her brownstone beginning on Friday.

“Randomly it will drop off the internet for hours or 30 minutes at a time,” she said. “I’ll have to relocate myself, so sometimes I will go across the street. I’ve actually experienced problems here at the GSU [George Sherman Union] as well.”

College of General Studies sophomore Meghan Kelliher, a Danielsen Hall resident, also had trouble getting online at her dorm.

“It was Saturday and Sunday night around 7 p.m.,” Kelliher said. “I was just doing something, and I went to reload a page and it said the server cannot be found. I tried doing a bunch of stuff, but the Wi-Fi just kept searching. I went to dinner, and when I came back it was back up, but it happened two nights in a row.”

Student Village II resident Teresa Fulcher, a College of Engineering junior, said while she did not notice any problems, others in StuVi II also had difficulties with Wi-Fi.

“A lot of people were posting on Facebook about having trouble getting connected and wondering what was going on,” Fulcher said. “That was going on for several hours, but I didn’t happen to experience any difficulty with it.”

CAS sophomore Alexandra Smith said she had to take her computer to the IT counter in Mugar Memorial Library after she encountered difficulties with wireless Internet access in the library.

“There was a lot of other people at IT who were trying to talk about the same kind of problems as well,” Smith said. “… It’s definitely a problem with the network. Even the IT people said there’s a problem with it.”

SAR freshman Nina Kim said she had difficulties connecting to Wi-Fi on Friday at her room in Warren Towers.

“It was just my room for some reason,” Kim said. “If I moved to the other end of the hall or another room, my Wi-Fi was working again. It was only my room that had no Wi-Fi. Later on, eventually the entire floor had no wi-fi except for the boys’ side of the hall. It came back on Saturday.”