The small Balkan country targeted by cyberattacks. Government institutions in Montenegro were targeted on Saturday August 27 and since the day before by a major computer attack. Some officials see it as the hand of Russia, even if the Prime Minister, Dritan Abazovic, remains cautious about the origin of this act. This is the second cyberattack in a week, after a first wave having hit institutions in the country, in the wake of a motion of censure which overthrew his government on August 19.
After convening the National Security Council late Friday to decide on the measures to be taken, the head of government, Dritan Abazovic, who manages current affairs, did not speak about the origins of this attack, but his Minister of Defense pointed to Russia. Russia added Montenegro to its list of “enemy countries”following its alignment with European Union sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine in February.
“We were unable to confirm, at the council, by people competent in this field, whether an individual, a group or a State was behind (this attack), but we could not exclude that either”, said Dritan Abazovic at a press conference. The computer systems of several institutions have been “infected”, including that of the Ministry of Finance, he added. Several media, citing a “informal briefing” for the local press at the National Security Agency (ANB), claim on Saturday that the attack is led by “several Russian services”. According to the same source, “all essential infrastructure” are at risk, including electricity and water supply systems.
“Montenegro will appeal to international partners for expert assistance to recover any data recovered in this attack and to prevent future attacks.”, also specified the Prime Minister. Public Service Minister Maras Dukaj said on Saturday that it was “the attack of the greatest intensity” to have been committed in this country of 620,000 inhabitants. But “thanks to the rapid measures, there was no lasting damage to the IT infrastructure”, he tweeted. Maras Dukaj assured on Saturday evening that “the accounts of citizens and companies, just like their data, (were) not threatened”.