The Austrian Foreign Ministry has fallen victim to a hacking attack, with its systems breached by a hacking group said to be acting on behalf of another government.
“A coordination committee for network and information security has been established and all relevant federal agencies are also active,” the ministry said in a press release. “The problem was identified very quickly and immediate measures were taken to address it.”
The hacking attack was first reported on Saturday evening. Foreign Minister Peter Guschelbauer later said that the systems were compromised as late as Sunday.
Austria was not prepared for such an attack
"The recent and ongoing hacking attack on the Foreign Ministry shows defense is cyber and how poorly prepared Austria is for such cyber attacks," the Ministry said.
A spokesman for the SPÖ (Social Democratic Party of Austria) stressed that the country's armed forces should receive funding for cyber training courses.
This will help prevent and immediately respond to future hacking attacks.
Experts believe the hacking group is backed by a foreign government
“Due to the severity and nature of the attack, the possibility of a targeted attack by a state group cannot be ruled out,” said . “The envisaged state protection mechanisms are active at all levels.”
Other European government agencies have also been targeted by state-sponsored hacking groups. For example, the Russian group APT28 infiltrated the networks of the German Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Defense, and other agencies in March 2018.
The German Federal Ministry of the Interior had confirmed the hack. In fact, experts had said that the breach of the systems was initially detected in December 2017.
Additionally, the APT28 group was found to have had access to the German government network for an entire year.
Many European countries have faced similar incidents. No matter how many measures governments take, there is never complete protection. The chances of an attack are clearly reduced, but services and companies must always be on the alert.
Russian hackers often target government organizations
The Russian group APT28 (also known as STRONTIUM, Sofacy, and Fancy Bear) has been active since January 2007 and has been linked to numerous espionage campaigns targeting governments and security companies.
