Deutsche Telekom: failure of 900,000 routers possible due to hack

The German provider Deutsche Telekom has announced that approximately 900,000 routers of customers with a fixed network connection are experiencing a malfunction. According to the company, this may be the result of a hack.

The company does not give any further details and only tells the German news agency DPA that “there are first indications that the company may be the victim of a hacking attack”. On its support forum, the provider reports that it is not clear exactly which routers are affected by the problem. In some cases, customers would only be able to connect to a limited extent and in other cases there would be no connection at all.

Telekom customers have been troubled by the malfunction since Sunday evening, with the routers indicating that they have an active connection but cannot make a connection. Based on the error pattern, it cannot be ruled out that an external party is causing the problems, according to the provider. The problems are not concentrated in specific geographic areas, but are spreading across the country. The fact that cities are affected more often has to do with population density.