UP News - University of Potsdam

Media information 03-12-2024 / Nr. 113

Following last Wednesday's shutdown of the University of Potsdam's internet connection due to technical problems, many of the university's core services and websites are now available again with a stable network. The main cause was an unusually high number of so-called DoS attacks, which were successfully blocked by the firewall. In order to prevent attackers from infiltrating the university network, external access had to be suspended. After a thorough check of the systems and infrastructure, the university has now been able to go back online. So far, there are no indications that any of the application systems were compromised or that data was lost.

President Prof. Oliver Günther, Ph.D. expressed his gratitude for the outstanding work that was done by the staff involved in managing this crisis: "Our colleagues worked through the night and over the weekend to guarantee the security of our systems and data and to communicate any issues and further steps to be taken to our staff and students. Collaboration with the university management in the rapidly assembled crisis team was also extremely effective." Peter Kostädt, Chief Information Officer at the University of Potsdam, adds: "Thanks to the unwavering dedication of our IT experts, we were able to resolve the problems quickly and get back online fast. We also took advantage of the shutdown to strengthen our security systems and raise them to a new level. Incidents like these make it clear how important cyber security is and that our networks and IT services need to be secured accordingly."

As a result of the shutdown, the university's application portal, which is embedded on the www.uni-potsdam.de website, and the information pages on how to apply to the university were also unavailable. For this reason, the application deadlines for master's degree programs with restricted admission have been extended by seven days – the period during which the university’s website was unavailable. This means that the new application deadline for admission-restricted master's degree programs for the 2025 summer semester is now December 9, 2024.

Information for prospective students:
https://www.uni-potsdam.de/en/studium/
https://www.uni-potsdam.de/en/studium/application-enrollment/application-master

Contact:
Dr. Silke Engel, Spokesperson of the University of Potsdam
Phone: +49 (0)177 6461796, E-Mail: silke.engeluuni-potsdampde

Media information 03-12-2024 / No. 113

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