A network problem at the Netherlands’ Ministry of Defense on Wednesday caused significant disruptions to government and transportation services across the country.
During yesterday Eindhoven airport had several flight cancellations. The problem, prevented officials from accessing their computers and forced police officers to communicate by text messages.
Although the magnitude and exact origin of the problem are still unknown, a Defense Ministry spokesman, Laurens Bos, confirmed to The Associated Press that the problem originated in one of its systems. “We are experiencing a crash on one of our Department of Defense networkswhich is also used by other entities of the Dutch government,” he explained.
The National Cybersecurity Center indicated that it has not yet been determined if the incident is a result of a cyber attack. This case is reminiscent of the global problem that occurred weeks ago with Microsoft y Crowdstrike.
At Eindhoven airport, located in the south of the country, numerous passengers were stranded early in the morning due to the cancellation of flights by low-cost airlines Ryanair and Transavia. Judith de Roy, Airport spokesperson commented: “There is no air traffic and we have very little information about the cause.”
It is important to mention that Eindhoven airport also has a military zone managed by the Ministry of Defense. On the other hand, the country’s main airport, Schiphol and Amsterdam, did not report any problems.
