Daily Times

Slovakia is investigating a suspected case of hacking targeting its foreign ministry, Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini said on Wednesday after a meeting of the country’s security council.

Pellegrini said the attack was carried out by a “supranational and sophisticated spy organisation”, though he did not provide evidence. He did not say when the suspected attack started or whether any confidential material had been affected, but he said that measures were taken to prevent any damage.

“The attack was uncovered thanks to unusual behaviour of several computers at the foreign ministry,” Pellegrini told reporters.

“An analysis uncovered not a regular virus but a sophisticated harmful code enabling transfer of data from within an organisation to foreign servers.” A foreign ministry spokesperson declined to say whether a foreign state was suspected of involvement.

Slovakia is a member of the NATO military alliance and the European Union, and is one of the few countries in eastern Europe that uses the euro as its currency.

Published in Daily Times, October 18^th 2018.