Digital Infrastructure Of Montenegro Government Experienced Great Attack, Abazovic: Regarding Political Situations

Prime Minister Montenegro, who will soon end his term of office, Dritan Abazovic. (photo: twitter @DritanAbazovic)

JAKARTA - The government's Montenegro digital infrastructure has been hit by a cyber attack that has been "unprecedented". The Prime Minister, who will soon end his term of office, Dritan Abazovic, immediately held a National Security Council hearing on Friday evening, August 26, to discuss the attack immediately.

Abazovic said the attack was politically motivated following his government's fall last week. Hackers also attacked the country's digital infrastructure in Montenegro on the 2016 election day, and once again during a span of several months in 2017 when the former republic would join NATO.

"West military alliances are aware of reports of cyberattacks in Montenegro and are ready to assist their authorities if necessary," an unnamed NATO official was quoted as saying by Voice of America.

However, authorities in the country immediately took timely steps to reduce the impact, on Friday, August 26.

"Several services are temporarily turned off for security reasons but account security belongs to citizens and companies and their data is not threatened," said Minister of Public Administration, Maras Funeral on Twitter.

Sadij said the attack, which began on Thursday evening, was similar to several other attacks in recent years in the little republic of Adriatics. Even Montenegro - a NATO member, has informed his allies about it.

"Continuous and sustainable cyberattacks are ongoing in Montenegro," reads a warning on the US Embassy website in the capital Podgorica. "The attack may include interference with public utilities, transportation (including border crossings and airports), and the telecommunications sector."

The embassy advised US citizens to limit movement and travel in Montenegro for their needs and own and prepare travel documents that are up to date and easily accessible.

Vijesti's online news portal, citing the National Security Agency (ANB) Montenegro, said the attack had "unprecedented".

EPCG's state-owned electricity utilities have also shifted its operations to manual handling to prevent any possible damage after a warning by ANB that they could be the target of an attack. This was reported by Vijesti quoting a statement by Milutin Djukanovic, President of the EPCG Board of Directors.

Djukanovic also said that several client services had been temporarily disabled as a precaution.