Websites of the Government, the Ministry of Defense and other institutions affected by cyber attacks

The specialists in cybersecurity of the Special Telecommunications Service (STS) have blocked this weekend thousands of malicious attacks targeting the websites of the most important institutions in Romania."It's a significant increase, on several web pages the increase is over 100% for these types of attacks, in comparison to other periods. STS has applied efficient and quick measures for cybersecurity, using both automated mechanisms, but also technical operations in real-time implemented at the level of the Operational Center for Response to Security Incidents (CORIS-STS) and at the level of Internet Infrastructure (ISP-STS), for all the authorities for which our institution ensures technical administration or provision of Internet-type services," the STS informs in a release.According to the quoted source, in case of a cyberattack, the decisions and measures taken in an extremely short period of time are essential, and when technical administration and cybersecurity teams work together, the decision chain is extremely short and with immediate impact."The activities conducted to ensure cybernetic security correlate defensive measures both at the level of communication infrastructure, as well as at the level of informational applications," the STS emphasizes.During the attacks, STS specialists identified their type, the malicious sources and applied protective solutions at the level of operating systems hosting the attacked informational services and sent them to other CERT-type entities.At the same time, STS has shared its own analysis and collaborated with IT specialists of beneficiaries and CERT experts at the level of the National Directorate for Cyber Security (DNSC) and the institutions in the National Defence System."STS is continuing to conduct, 24/7, all the specific cybersecurity activities in order to contribute to the protection of digital and communications services of the institutions and authorities of the Romanian state," the release also shows.The cyber attack was claimed by the pro-Russian KILLNET group, which specializes in DDoS attacks. Also, earlier this same month, the KILLNET group launched DDoS attacks on the websites of institutions in states such as the US, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, but also on NATO sites.The responsibility for ensuring the primary cyber security of the affected infrastructures does not belong to the Romanian Intelligence Service. However, given the scale of the attacks with an impact on national security, the CYBERINT National Centre within the Romanian Intelligence Service is actively cooperating with the entities responsible for investigating cyber attacks and remedying their effects, the SRI explains.The Service also adds that the affected sites are not part of the National System for the Protection of IT&C Infrastructures of national interest against threats from cyberspace (TITEICA) managed by the Romanian Intelligence Service through the CYBERINT National Centre.