Update: Pro-Kremlin hacker group Killnet has claimed to be behind the cyberattacks that hit the websites of several Romanian institutions, including the Government and Defense Ministry, on Friday morning. According to Biziday.ro, the group said in a message published on Telegram that the attacks were carried out after the statements of Marcel Ciolacu, the president of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies, who reportedly promised the Ukrainian authorities "maximum assistance" in the supply of lethal weapons to Ukraine by Romania.

The Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) issued the following statement on the cyberattacks: "On April 29, 2022, starting with 04:00, a series of sites belonging to national authorities and financial-banking institutions were the victims of a cyber attack of the Distributed-Denial-of-Service (DDoS) type. The attack caused the sites to be unavailable for several hours. The investigations carried out by the CYBERINT National Center within the Romanian Intelligence Service established that the cyber attackers used network equipment from outside Romania. The attackers took control of the equipment in question by exploiting cyber security vulnerabilities, respectively the lack of cyber security measures and used them as a vector of attack on sites in Romania."

Initial story: DDOS cyberattacks targeted several Romanian government websites on Friday morning, April 29, including those of the Government, Ministry of Defense (MApN), Border Police, and railway transport operator CFR Calatori.

“This morning, access to the sites gov.ro, mapn.ro and politiadefrontiera.ro, cfrcalatori.ro and the site of a financial institution was affected by a series of DDOS (distributed denial of service) cyberattacks,” the Government announced on Friday morning, according to News.ro.

The Executive also said that IT specialists from several government structures collaborate with experts from specialized institutions to restore access and identify causes.

The Ministry of Defence said that the attack did not compromise the functioning of the institution's website, but only blocked users' access, and that the page does not contain sensitive or classified databases.

At the time of this report, the Government’s website - gov.ro could be accessed.

Meanwhile, the website of CFR Calatori was still down, and the company said on its Facebook page that passengers could use the bilete.cfrcalatori.ro/ro-RO/Itineraries platform or the mobile app to purchase tickets.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Motortion/Dreamstime.com)