Triangle warns of possible slow internet speeds due to cyber attacks

Triangle Communications made a Facebook post Monday saying the cooperative is dealing with a series of attacks that may cause users to experience slow internet speeds.

“Triangle has been targeted with multiple denial of service attacks, which means our internet service is being attacked from outside of the Triangle area by a malicious and deliberate perpetrator,” the post said.

A call to Triangle requesting more information had not been returned by printing deadline this morning.

Denial of service attacks occur when legitimate users are impacted by malicious actions of the attacker, often by flooding a network server with traffic, so legitimate users have slow or no service.

Triangle’s post said it is continuing to work on the issue is are addressing targeted customers, and anyone who ever experiences issues with their services should contact Triangle.

The post said that although it is impossible to completely avoid being targeted by denial of service or distributed denial of service attacks, Triangle Communications has protection services in place to at least reduce the effects from the attacks.

The post recommended a list of steps a person can take to be cautious and aware:

• Install and maintain antivirus software.

• People should keep their operating system up-to-date and always install security updates when available.

•  Evaluate security settings and follow good security practices in order to minimize the access other people have to information, as well as to manage unwanted traffic. 

• Install a firewall and configure it to restrict traffic coming into and leaving the computer.

The post said people can visit https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/tips/ST04-015 to learn more about denial of service attacks.