Cyprus Prevents Digital Attack on Government Portal

Cyprus Thwarts Digital Attack on Government Portal

NICOSIA, Cyprus -- Cyprus announced on Sunday that it successfully thwarted a digital attack aimed at blocking access to the government’s central online portal. This incident is part of a series of similar attacks over a three-day period targeting state-run utilities and the local branch of a Greek energy company.

The Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation, and Digital Policy reported that “a quick and coordinated response” from authorities was key to stopping the attack, which aimed specifically to disrupt access to certain government websites.

This distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS) impacted the main government portal, gov.cy, for just a few minutes, with no other online government ministries or services affected. The deputy ministry did not disclose the identity of the attackers or their potential motives.

Sunday's incident followed earlier attempts on Friday and Saturday when Cyprus' electricity and telecommunications authorities, along with the operators of the nation's two airports, were also targeted. Officials indicated that these previous attacks also failed, and importantly, no client data had been leaked or compromised.