Austrian Foreign Ministry Hit By ‘Serious’ Cyber-Attack

Austria’s foreign ministry said it is  dealing with a “serious” cyber-attack that may have been launched by another country.

“Due to the gravity and nature of the attack, it cannot be excluded that it is a targeted attack by a state actor,” the ministry said in a joint statement with the Austrian interior ministry on Saturday.

“In the past, other European countries have been the target of similar attacks.

“Despite all intensive security measures, there is never 100 percent protection against cyber-attacks.”

Continuing attack

It added that the attack is continuing, while experts said the incident could last for several days, according to AFP.

The ministry said procedures had been put in place as an immediate response and a coordination committee had been formed, but gave no further details about the incident.

The attack was disclosed on the same day that the Green party agreed to an unprecedented coalition with Austria’s conservative People’s Party, at a congress in Salzburg.

Cyber-incident

The European Union created new measures last year for responding to countries outside the bloc that launch cyber-attacks on organisations such as hospitals or financial institutions, or that use such measures to disrupt elections.

The German government’s IT network was hit by a “very serious” cyber-attack in March 2018, which experts said may have been the work of the Russian Fancy Bear hacking organisation.

Fancy Bear was also blamed for an attack on the German parliament in 2015.