NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ—Rutgers students were unable to use non-Rutgers websites and online services via the school’s wireless internet networks on the first day of classes this year, thanks to yet another cyberattack.

Similarly, those outside the school were unable to access Rutgers websites during a window of time that the massive network was breached.

The Daily Targum’s Nikilesh De broke the story on September 6, the same day that the attack caused major inconveniences for at least a half-hour.

Rutgers University Police Department (RUPD) opened up case #16-090904, filing a report the following morning that put the time of the “computer criminal activity” at about 1:30pm on September 6.

Rutgers Office of Information Technology (OIT) issued a statement characterizing the matter as “network connectivity issues” in a statement to the public.

“The incident began at approximately 1:30 p.m. today and OIT restored access by 2 p.m. No data was compromised. Emails may have been delayed during this period, but no emails were lost,” De quoted the school’s IT Director Frank Reda as saying.

Reda replaced Don Smith, who was widely criticized for the university’s failing cybersecurity in the leadup to his December 2015 retirement.

During Smith’s tenure, the university’s networks sufferred from numerous attacks, including one that crippled the school’s networks for four days, causing academic problems for students and faculty.

A Twitter user who appeared to be responsible for the issues re-surfaced, posting “is there an internet out???” at 1:29pm.

“whenever you are discovered I hope I get to poke you really hard with a pencil,” responded one frustrated Rutgers student.

“its been 3 years bubba. pd and fbi are as useless as oit,” responded the mysterious user who many believe is responsible for the attacks that have plagued the school since 2014. 

Editor at New Brunswick Today | 732-993-9697 | editor@newbrunswicktoday.com | Website

Charlie is the founder and editor of New Brunswick Today, and the winner of the Awbrey Award for Community-Oriented Local Journalism. He is a proud Rutgers University journalism graduate, a community organizer, and a former independent candidate for mayor of New Brunswick.

Charlie is the founder and editor of New Brunswick Today, and the winner of the Awbrey Award for Community-Oriented Local Journalism. He is a proud Rutgers University journalism graduate, a community organizer, and a former independent candidate for mayor of New Brunswick.