Podgorica – AFP
A major cyber attack was launched on Friday against government institutions in Montenegro, in the second incident of its kind in a week, and the Prime Minister preferred to be careful in identifying its source.
The cyber attack came in the wake of the vote on a no-confidence memorandum that toppled the government on August 19.
After a meeting of the National Security Council, on Friday, to discuss the measures to be taken, Prime Minister Dritan Abazovich, who runs the caretaker government, did not address the source of the attack, but the defense minister pointed the finger at Russia.
And last March, Russia added Montenegro to the list of “enemy countries” after following Europe’s example in the sanctions it imposed on Moscow over the Ukraine war.
“Specialists in the council were unable to confirm whether an individual, a group or a country was behind (the attack), but we cannot rule that out either,” Abazovic said at a press conference. He added that the information systems in several institutions were “affected”, including the system of the Ministry of Finance.
“Montenegro will direct a request to international partners to receive expert assistance in order to recover data and prevent future attacks,” the prime minister said.
France responded “positively” to this request on Saturday, while providing the services of its national agency for the security of information systems.
France’s Minister of Digital Transformation and Communications, Jean-Noel Barrot, said that “the agency will provide Montenegro with its expertise in analysis and advice to understand the situation and take preliminary measures to solve” the problem. Montenegro’s Civil Service Minister Maras Ducay revealed it was the “most severe attack” ever committed.
“Thanks to the quick action, the damage was not long-term to the IT infrastructure,” he wrote on Twitter.
Dukai stressed Saturday that “the accounts of citizens and companies and their data are not threatened.” Defense Minister Rasko Konievic revealed that “these attacks are very complex, and cannot be carried out by individuals.”
After the attack, the power stations switched to manual operation. The US embassy issued a warning to its citizens in the country, explaining that “continuous” cyber attacks could cause “disruption in the public services and transportation sectors, especially at border crossings and airports, as well as in the field of communications.”