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Scientists were cut off from a key tool for financing projects.
Last week, the Dutch grant application system Isaac faced serious technical problems, which led to the temporary unavailability of the service. During the investigation, it turned out that attempts were made to invade the system externally.
Isaac is an electronic application system developed and used by the Netherlands Research Organization (NWO). It plays a key role in processing applications for funding research projects and ensures interaction between applicants, reviewers and members of expert committees.
On August 14, 2024, the NWO announced that the Isaac system was temporarily unavailable. Initially, the cause of the failure was not clarified, but it was known that work was underway to fix the problem. Users have been informed to contact customer service for assistance.
The next day, August 15, it became known that the problem persists, and the system will be unavailable all day. In the evening of the same day, the NWO reported that Isaac would most likely not work on August 16. And later, the restoration period was shifted for another 10 days - until August 26, which caused additional fears and inconvenience for all participants in the process.
On August 22, the NWO announced that an investigation had revealed attempts at external intrusion into the Isaac system. According to experts, the attackers did not damage the infrastructure and did not steal data, but for security reasons, it was decided to postpone the opening of the system to external users for another week.
Due to the incident, the deadline for submitting applications for the Open Competitie-XS competition was shifted to August 29. These changes apply to the Open Competitie SGW-XS and Open Competitie ENW-XS competitions.
This event underscores the importance of ensuring cybersecurity in key scientific infrastructures. Implementing effective security measures and promptly responding to threats remains a priority to prevent failures that could affect the operation of critical systems and processes.
Source
Last week, the Dutch grant application system Isaac faced serious technical problems, which led to the temporary unavailability of the service. During the investigation, it turned out that attempts were made to invade the system externally.
Isaac is an electronic application system developed and used by the Netherlands Research Organization (NWO). It plays a key role in processing applications for funding research projects and ensures interaction between applicants, reviewers and members of expert committees.
On August 14, 2024, the NWO announced that the Isaac system was temporarily unavailable. Initially, the cause of the failure was not clarified, but it was known that work was underway to fix the problem. Users have been informed to contact customer service for assistance.
The next day, August 15, it became known that the problem persists, and the system will be unavailable all day. In the evening of the same day, the NWO reported that Isaac would most likely not work on August 16. And later, the restoration period was shifted for another 10 days - until August 26, which caused additional fears and inconvenience for all participants in the process.
On August 22, the NWO announced that an investigation had revealed attempts at external intrusion into the Isaac system. According to experts, the attackers did not damage the infrastructure and did not steal data, but for security reasons, it was decided to postpone the opening of the system to external users for another week.
Due to the incident, the deadline for submitting applications for the Open Competitie-XS competition was shifted to August 29. These changes apply to the Open Competitie SGW-XS and Open Competitie ENW-XS competitions.
This event underscores the importance of ensuring cybersecurity in key scientific infrastructures. Implementing effective security measures and promptly responding to threats remains a priority to prevent failures that could affect the operation of critical systems and processes.
Source
