Kilkenny homes and businesses temporarily lose broadband after cyberattack

A broadband supplier to many homes across Kilkenny had to temporarily shut down its services down today after it was targeted in a cyberattack.

Nova Broadband is a wireless internet service provider which provides broadband to thousands of homes and businesses across Kilkenny, Cork, Limerick and Tipperary.

The company today informed customers that it had come under cyberattack via Twitter.

It was a different type of operation attack to the ransomware attack that has paralysed the Health Service Executive (HSE) since last Friday. The attack on Nova is known as a denial-of-service (DDoS), in which hackers attempt to disrupt a targeted server, service, or network by overloading it with a flood of meaningless internet traffic.

In a statement, Nova confirmed: “Our network is currently unavailable due to a DDoS attack by criminals. This is a flood of useless traffic designed to ‘clog up the pipes’.

“There has been no compromise of our systems and no data has been accessed. We are working to restore access.” the statement concluded.

Nova subsequently confirmed late this afternoon that the issue has been resolved and full services restored.