NEW BRUNSWICK - An attack against the Rutgers University computer network was responsible for weekend interruptions in internet service, the school said Sunday.

Rutgers University Chief Information Officer Don Smith wrote in an email to students that the interruptions were due to a distributed denial of service attack that began on Friday.

A denial of service occurs when a user directs other computers on their network to repeatedly contact a specific computer server or website. The traffic can slow internet service, and sometimes cause it to shut down completely.

UPDATE: Cyber attack hits FDU; Rutgers works to restore internet service

The university has not detected any thefts of personal or confidential information, Smith wrote.

"While we work to resolve this matter, some services will be unavailable or only work intermittently," Smith added.

Sakai, a resource tool used by faculty and students, was not available off-campus on Sunday.

As of 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, university officials were still working to fully restore internet service.

Vernal Coleman can be reached at vcoleman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @vernalcoleman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.