Internet connections at UK universities have been knocked out by a 'persistent' cyber attack
The University of Manchester said on Tuesday its internet connection had been knocked out this morning following what local media outlet Mancunion described as a "persistent" DDoS [direct denial of service] attack on the publicly-funded Janet network, which connects British universities to the internet.
"The Janet network is experiencing issues again this morning affecting a number of educational institutions including us," said the University of Manchester's IT services department. "We'll keep you updated."
The Janet network is provided by government-funded Jisc (Joint Information Systems Committee), which has been tweeting about the attacks this morning from the Jisc Major Incidents Twitter account.
Students on deadline also took to Twitter to complain that the lack of internet was preventing them from completing and handing in their essays and assignments.