“Montenegro was bombarded with cyber attacks from Russia this Friday. National security agency say the country is going through a hybrid war”
Russian hackers launched cyber attacks on the Montenegro government and its essential IT services, according to reports submitted by the country’s security agencies this Friday. Several officials from the ANB agency for National security reported that currently Montenegro is under a hybrid war with Russia.
A government official, Polovic, had also confirmed that the attack was a coordinated attack from Russia as the methodology used in hacking the systems are similar to Russian techniques. The attacks started from August 25 and as of August 28, several government servers and websites are still shut down by the attacks.
However, many of the shut down systems are part of precaution as to not leak data to the Russian hackers.
The Agency also reports that the attacks must have been planned for a long time and that the specialized hackers are part of Russia’s coordinated services to carry out such a big plan for the first time in Montenegro.
Montenegro once had friendly diplomatic relations with Russia, some even considered both nations as allies. But in 2017, after Montenegro signed up to get into NATO, Moscow cut ties with the small nation as Russians were heavily opposed to Montenegro’s move. The already soured relations might have frizzled even more after the invasion of Ukraine, Montenegro had joined the western sanctions imposed on Russia.
In retaliation, Russia has also added Montenegro to the list of “enemy states.” The list also contains several other European nations for “betraying” the trust of the Kremlin and acting against Russia’s interests.
The foreign residents currently living in Montenegro had been warned by their embassies to stay wary and alert for ongoing persistent cyber-attacks. The U.S. embassy reportedly said that the attack may include several disruptions in transportation like the airways, glitches in the telecommunication process, and interruptions in public utilities.
Russian Cyber warfare
The hacker attacks from Russia are nothing new as they have been happening for quite a while now. Back in 2007, Estonia was targeted by Russian hackers where the government sites were forcefully shut down along with several important media websites. Online net banking services were corrupted with bugs. The attacks were followed after Estonia had a diplomatic row with Russia over a Soviet Memorial.
The next year, many nations like Azerbaijan, Georgian, and South Ossetia witnessed the denial of service attacks.
A young Russian hacker confirmed that Russian hackers are often paid by Russian security services to hack the computers of NATO and its contemporaries.
Interestingly enough, the cyber warfare with Estonia has not been ended by Russia. Just a week before, a heavy cyber disruption shook Tallinn again and experts believe the attack this year was just as potent as the attacks had been in 2007.
Even most of Southeast Europe is experiencing waves of cyber attacks on several important government websites and social media outlets. There were already fears about Russia establishing its dominance over smaller European nations by destabilizing the regions to make them fearful about joining NATO.
Bulgaria’s former government party had reported that their websites were also attacked by Russian hackers. Next, the Albanian government servers were also brought down after cyber attacks.
Montenegro considers the Russian cyber attack as a very serious matter and that they are constantly monitoring the situation to get it under control. The local police, security agencies, and Ministry of Defense are working together to eliminate Russian influence over their internet services.
There have also been rumors of international partners who are working together with several southeast European countries to enforce better cyber defense against Russian hackers.
Russia is currently in a tough spot due to Ukraine giving the nation a tough fight in the war. With depleting resources and heavy sanctions from around the world, it is evident that Russia would want to assert its dominance over the neighbouring nations.
It will be worth the wait to see where the war Russia forced upon Europe will go. The cyber warfare is an old tactic that Russians have used to showcase their power and instill fear. But with failing war strategies against a nation that refuses to give up is breaking their mirage.
