LONDON: A man has been arrested in the UK for posting an Islamophobic message on 19 railway station Wi-Fi networks across the country.
Manchester Piccadilly, Birmingham New Street, Edinburgh Waverley, Glasgow Central, Liverpool Lime Street, Leeds and Bristol Temple Meads were caught up in the cyberattack on Wednesday, alongside London Bridge, Cannon Street, Charing Cross, Clapham Junction, Euston, King’s Cross, Liverpool Street, Paddington, Victoria and Waterloo in the capital.
Users at the stations were met with a page after logging in to free station Wi-Fi networks with the words “we love you, Europe,” accompanied by the claim that “the Islamisation of Europe is already underway.”
The message added that “this is just a small taste of what’s coming,” detailing the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing followed by images of the 22 victims.
The message was quickly taken down and a man, who has not been identified, was detained under the 1990 Computer Misuse Act and 1998 Malicious Communications Act.
He is understood to be an employee of Global Reach Technology, which provides internet services at many stations in the UK.
A spokesperson for British Transport Police said: “We received reports … of a cyberattack displaying Islamophobic messaging on some Network Rail Wi-Fi services.”
A spokesperson for Network Rail, the group in charge of UK tracks and stations, said no data had been compromised in the incident, adding: “Once our final security checks have been completed we anticipate the service will be restored by the weekend.”
A spokesperson for Telent, the company responsible for providing Wi-Fi at UK stations, said: “We are aware of the cybersecurity incident affecting the public Wi-Fi at Network Rail’s managed stations and are investigating with Network Rail and other stakeholders.”
