Statement on attacks on high-performance computing systems

14/05/2020

Several HPC centers in Germany and Europe were victims of a cyber attack and many of the systems were compromised.
Photo of the Cluster Aix-la-Chapelle (CLAIX) Copyright: © Alexander Müller

The RWTH HPC system CLAIX or other systems at the IT center are not affected according to our best knowledge. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and take appropriate precautions.

Affected users of other data centers will be informed by them. If you are a user of one of the affected data centers, we recommend the following precautions:

  1. Change all passwords and, if necessary, ssh keys stored on the systems. These passwords and keys may not be used for other services or systems under any circumstances. If this was the case, we recommend changing them immediately.
  2. Change all passwords or other access data stored on the affected systems. This may include ssh keys or stored access to git and svn servers.
  3. If you have logged into other systems from one of the affected systems, you should change the passwords, ssh keys, and any saved credentials on those systems as well.

No outflow or modification of user data has yet been reported from the affected centers.