A week ago, the Carinthian state government became the target of a hacker attack – now the administration is slowly going online again. Passports can be issued again, appointments that had to be canceled would be made up for as soon as possible, according to a broadcast from the country yesterday. However, work is still being done on starting up the telephone exchange. “Our homepage ktn.gv.at should also be activated again during the course of the day,” said state press service head Gerd Kurath.
The police and the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counter-Terrorism are currently investigating whether the “Black Cat” group responsible for the attack could have obtained data. At the same time as the system is restarted, work is also being carried out on its security. “We continue to ask for patience. It is important to start with secured applications to prevent further attacks,” said Kurath.
As reported, the international hacker group “Black Cat” claimed that they had obtained data from the Carinthian state government. The gang demanded a ransom of $5 million in bitcoins to unlock the perpetrators’ encrypted databases.
“We were offered decryption software, for a fee, of course,” said Kurath. However, the country did not pay, because all data was saved on backup systems and therefore still available. According to analyses, a computer was hacked on May 14 and the malware was introduced into the country’s IT system. According to experts, the virus was probably programmed individually, and no antivirus program would have worked.
The hacker attack was noticed on Tuesday a week ago. Not only the state system was affected, but also the district authorities, the state audit office and the state administrative court.
Attempted severe blackmail
In the meantime, the Carinthian public prosecutor’s office has also been involved. The public prosecutor Tina Frimmel-Hesse told OÖN that the prosecution had initiated investigations into attempted severe blackmail. The offense carries a prison sentence of up to ten years.
Source: Nachrichten
