A major internet and phone blackout across Luxembourg on Wednesday was caused by a cyberattack, according to a new statement from Post Luxembourg. The attack brought services to a standstill for several hours and caused disruptions in several key areas, including emergency services and air travel.
Post Luxembourg, the country’s main telecom company, confirmed the incident on Friday, saying the cyberattack was highly advanced and designed to interrupt services. This announcement marks a major update from earlier claims, where the cause was still unclear.
Massive Disruption Hits Phones, Internet, and Flights
The entire Post network went offline during the outage, which left many people without internet or phone access. Homes, offices, and businesses were all affected. But the biggest concern was the impact on emergency services. People trying to call for help were unable to connect, prompting a nationwide alert.
Singapore Breaks Cover on Cyberattackers—What UNC3886’s Tactics Reveal About Modern Warfare
Luxembourg Airport also faced delays due to the communication problems. Officials reported that about 40 flights were affected throughout the day. Passengers experienced long waits, and airport staff had to deal with a sudden and unexpected technical failure.
The blackout lasted for several hours and showed just how dependent daily life is on stable digital systems.
Post Confirms Targeted Cyberattack
While early statements suggested no clear cause, Post confirmed on Friday that the outage was caused by a cyberattack. Experts analyzing the situation found that it was a targeted attack using a sophisticated method.
The attackers took advantage of a software weakness in a standard component. While no personal data was stolen and no one broke into Post’s internal systems, the goal was clear: to cause a large-scale breakdown of essential services.
Post said it had already reported the event to the public prosecutor’s office. Investigations are still ongoing, and so far, the source of the attack and the people behind it remain unknown.
The company emphasized that the countermeasures it put in place on Wednesday worked well. Services were restored and remain stable, thanks to those fast actions.
Government of Luxembourg Confirms Attack and Ongoing Analysis
Luxembourg’s government also confirmed the cyberattack in a statement released on Friday. The country’s crisis unit met to assess the situation, and the High Commissioner for National Protection is now leading a full analysis of the event.
The team is working with various organizations and technical experts to understand the full scope of the incident and how it affected critical systems.
This is not the first such attack in Luxembourg. In January, websites like MyGuichet and LuxTrust went offline for about two hours. In spring 2024, another large cyberattack took down several government services for nearly two weeks. Pro-Russian hacker groups claimed responsibility in those cases, although the government has never officially confirmed their involvement.
The latest cyberattack adds to growing concerns about digital safety in the country. As more services move online, the risk of targeted attacks continues to rise.
