Russian Embassy In Austria Says Registered Cyberattack On Mission's Consular Section

The Russian embassy in Austria said on Friday it had registered a cyberattack on the network of the consular section of the diplomatic mission, which resulted in fake requests for embassy appointments being filed online

VIENNA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd February, 2019) The Russian embassy in Austria said on Friday it had registered a cyberattack on the network of the consular section of the diplomatic mission, which resulted in fake requests for embassy appointments being filed online.

According to the embassy, since the beginning of 2019, an unprecedented number of people who had requested consular appointments online have failed to appear at the embassy, despite the number of applications for consular services dramatically increasing. The embassy added that it had received complaints about the fact that consular appointments were unavailable for months ahead.

"At our request, special technical services checked for possible manipulation of information networks from the outside, and discovered more than 300 applications that were submitted automatically from IP addresses from Iraq, Thailand, Indonesia and a number of other countries.

It was decided that those applications be removed and their sources blocked. To date, the percentage of applicants who miss [their appointments] has returned to a normal level," the spokesperson said.

Russian Ambassador to Austria Dmitry Lyubinsky said that the case dealt with malicious actions that aimed to sabotage the work of the consular section of the embassy. The ambassador also did not rule out further attacks.