Lithuania Charges Russia With Hacking Government Network

Lithuania has accused Russia of cyberattacks on government networks since 2015, targeting mid- to low-ranking officers whose computers held drafts of official decisions, reports Reuters, quoting head of Lithuanian cybersecurity Rimtautas Cerniauskas.

Baltic officials are taking this seriousl,y especially after cyberattacks on Estonia’s state website in 2007 and on Lithuania’s central bank and news site in 2012.

This year, hackers made 20 attempts to infect government computers, said Cerniauskas. Three cases of spyware were allegedly discovered secretly transferring documents and passwords since 2015 to an address linked to Russian spy agencies.

"They have capacity, they have the attitude, they are interested, and they will get to it – so we need to prepare for it and we need to apply countermeasures,” he added.

Russia called Lithuania’s charges “laughable” adding it was also made the target of “round the clock” cyberattacks.

Germany, which goes to the polls next year, has also alleged cyberattacks by Russia.

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