CAO insists data secure after attack

THE Central Applications Office (CAO) insists that the security of students’ data is not at risk following a malicious attack on its website, as tens of thousands tried to check for college offers yesterday morning.

The site was inaccessible for much of the morning after a “denial of service” attack meant it was bombarded with queries from an unknown source shortly after the offers went live at 6am.

The CAO is assessing the situation before deciding whether to make a complaint to gardaí. But there may be difficulty tracing the attacker as it is understood false internet provider (IP) addresses were used, making it impossible to locate the computer that was used.

But the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union (ISSU) said that, although the “freak technical mishap” was outside CAO’s control, a full investigation must be carried out.

“It is imperative that technical difficulties of this scale cannot be allowed to happen in future as they cause unnecessary worry for students at an already stressful time, and undermine confidence in the system,” a spokesperson said.

The site returned to normal by around 2pm, when 15,000 applicants had managed to accept offers, around the same number as at the same point last year. More than 95% of all college acceptances last year were made online and anyone who got through yesterday morning is advised to check the “My Application” facility to verify if an acceptance has been formally registered.

“The site was attacked by a malicious source, being bombarded with queries, but the technical staff worked frantically to resolve the problem. It was a “denial of service attack”, it is not hacking. “No one logged on or accessed CAO systems,” a CAO spokesperson said.

Almost 48,500 college applicants received an offer yesterday and all applicants should receive written notification from CAO by today, regardless of whether they have been offered a college place.

On internet forums such as boards.ie, CAO applicants complained about the difficulties and suggested the organisation should be prepared for such incidents, given the level of traffic it handles this time every year.

At 9.28am, one boards.ie user UnionOfV posted a message: “...aaand down again. I get on, log in, click on accept and *crash*”. Five minutes later, another user replied: “at least you can see the course you were offered im close to vomiting with nerves.”

Labour Party education spokesman Ruairi Quinn said the incident was particularly malicious as it appeared to be designed to throw the system into chaos, adding anxiety for tens of thousands of students waiting to check college offers.

Although 21,322 of this year’s record 77,628 CAO applicants have not yet been offered a place, courses with places open for fresh applications will be listed on the CAO website from midday today.

A booklet for school leavers with information on other education and training options, college grants, social welfare and employment rights is available from local Citizens Information Centres and at www.citizensinformation.ie