LISBON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Vodafone's Portuguese unit
said on Tuesday a hacker attack overnight had disrupted its
services but assured its customers that their personal data had
not been compromised as a result of the incident, which is under
investigation.
Vodafone Portugal said in a statement its system faced
technical problems on Monday evening, with thousands of
customers reporting they were unable to make calls or access the
internet on their phones or computers.
It later discovered the technical issues were caused by what
it described as a "deliberate and malicious" cyber attack.
"There is no evidence customer data has been accessed or
compromised," it said. "An in-depth investigation of the
criminal act...will continue for an indefinite period, with the
involvement of the competent authorities."
The attack on Vodafone came a month after the websites of
one of Portugal's biggest newspapers and of a major broadcaster
were hacked. Both media organisations remain unable to access
their websites.
Vodafone Portugal said it was "determined to restore the
normality of services" and mobile use was gradually recovering.
The 4G network remains unavailable but customers in most of the
country can use 3G.
(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Andrei Khalip,
Kirsten Donovan)