Montenegro wrestles with massive cyberattack, Russia blamed
At the government headquarters in NATO-member Montenegro, the computers are unplugged, the internet is switched off and the state’s main websites are down
PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — At the government headquarters in NATO-member Montenegro, the computers are unplugged, the internet is switched off and the state's main websites are down. The blackout comes amid a massive cyberattack against the small Balkan state which officials say bears the hallmark of pro-Russian hackers and its security services.
The coordinated attack that started around Aug. 20 crippled online government information platforms and put Montenegro's essential infrastructure, including banking, water and electricity power systems, at high risk.
The attack, described by experts as unprecedented in its intensity and the longest in the tiny nation’s recent history, capped a string of cyberattacks since Russia invaded Ukraine in which hackers targeted Montenegro and other European nations, most of them NATO members.
Sitting at his desk in Montenegro’s capital, Podgorica, in front of a blackened PC screen, Defense Minister Rasko Konjevic said government officials were advised by cyber experts, including a team of FBI investigators that was dispatched to the Balkan state, to go offline for security reasons.
