Cyber attack on Montenegro prepared since January 2022.

Infiltration Infiltration in government information infrastructure, which resulted in the serious cyber attack on Montenegro in August last year, started in January 2022, was announced at the work of work with journalists who organized the Ministry of Public Administration yesterday.

General Manager of the Directorate for Infrastructure, Information Security, Dušan Polovic, responded to journalists' issues, that in the Sector from the US FBI and French Ansi, the Infiltration began in January 2022 . years.

He said certain disadvantages in security were used and that the point through which the initial infiltration was carried out in the system, but also that it cannot communicate the Point, and that the issue was discussed and on the National Council. Security.

It wasn't just Cuba Ransomware. It was just a tool that was completed by an end attack. The system shortcomings were used, and the MPU and the Operational Team provided many recommendations that have just created from joint work with FBI colleagues, ANSI - Kazao Polović said.

He pointed out that the numerous things that have recognized as possible shortcomings have already been removed, and that Montenegro is significantly more prepared for a new eventual cyber threat today, compared to August last year.

We were definitely unprepared. We never had a similar attack, and until August last year, we didn't have aware of what a serious cyber attack could mean and how many consequences he can inflict, first of all, citizens.

Asked for today, based on the FBI and ANSI report, he is behind the Sajber Attack last August, Polovic said that there was no explicit findings in that sense either in the reports.

Cuba Ransomware Group, as he said, is a famous cyber terrorist organization behind whose individual attacks stood in the past Russian Federation, and whether in the case of Montenegro, it is not known about an orchestrated attack from that state.

Public Administration Minister (MPU) Dukaj announced that this RESOR will soon finish the work in the Information Security Act, and the key novelty provided for that act is the formation of the National Cyber Security Agency.

He said cyber wars represent the most common and most dangerous vision of war in the world, and that Montenegro, as a member of NATO, did not have a network monitoring and cyber defense in the regime 24/7. Polovic said that today, the Syber resistance system was raised to a significantly higher level.

But we don't meet it. Digitalization should precede the digital infrastructure and adequate system of cyber security and reliability - Kazao Polović said.

As he added, they recognized that they did not have adequate mechanisms in the normative part, so they approached the fundamental development of a completely new legal text, which will recognize the term "cyber crisis". According to him, during the PROG quarter of this year, CIRT prevented the consequences of 38,000 spam appointments that were sent to the name of the Government servers, as well as 9.2 thousand. He said that the Cyber Security Agency would play a key role in that segment. - Our intention is to be formed by the end of the third or beginning of the fourth quarter of this year, and that he has been working in full operational capacity from January 1, "Polovic said. According to him, the Regional Center for Cyber Security is a capital project, and the Wish of the IMP is that it is a regional Hub and that Montenegro becomes leader in cyber security leader. Asked whether, in the eve of the upcoming parliamentary elections, he expects an increased number of cyber attacks, he replied that the increased level of the attack also recorded during the presidential election. - Then it is realisticly expected to increase the number of attacks, we can also have during the parliamentary. However, we keep there those attacks, they are higher or lower levels, have other countries. Only the question is how much we are capable of answering them. We currently have a significant greater capacity to respond to attacks - Polovic said.

M.J.