Vienna awoke Wednesday to the pealing of the bells of St Stephan’s Cathedral, but the normally harmonious song of the bells wasn’t very welcome, since it started at 2 a.m. and continued for nearly half an hour.
The clangorous concert, believed to be a hacker’s prank, was ended when a priest attached to the Cathedral was able to use his tablet to turn off the electronic controls for the bells. The church’s largest bell, one of Europe’s largest free-swinging bells, was not involved.
Initially, the ringing was believed to have been caused by a glitch in the church’s computer systems which control bells, lights and other facilities, but after further investigation it was determined that a hacker had gotten access to the church’s systems through a vulnerability in its remote maintenance systems. Measures have now been taken to prevent a new attack.
