A coordinated and "complex cyber-information attack" was carried out against Lithuanian institutions on Wednesday night, according to the country's Foreign Ministry.
The website of the State Border Guard Service (VSAT) was hacked to publish a false statement, alleging that a Polish diplomat had been detained on the border carrying weapons, drugs, and money.
The Foreign Ministry said it recently observed an increase in attacks “aimed at undermining friendly Lithuanian–Polish relations and pitting the [two] nations against each other”.
The website of Šiauliai Municipality, northern Lithuania, was also hacked on Wednesday night to post a fake article.
“The fake news was about the airport,” said Šiauliai Mayor Artūras Visockas, referring to the facility that houses NATO’s Baltic air policing mission.
Additionally, false notifications with instructions to report to the regional military conscription and recruitment units were sent out to institutions and individuals in Lithuania.
‘Coordinated attack’
Several Lithuanian institutions came under different, but coordinated attacks, according to Rytis Rainys from the National Cyber Security Centre, which is part of the country’s Defence Ministry.
The attack “involved hacking [infromation platforms] and publishing fake news” and “everything took place at the same time”, he told BNS.
“We suspect it was done by the same [actors],” added Rainys.
It’s not the first time state institutions in Lithuania have come under similar attacks. In September, the Foreign Ministry warned about false information, published in its name, which claimed that Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius had called for sending “peacekeeping forces” to Belarus.
Among other incidents, a falsified email from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was sent to institutions in Lithuania and Brussels, claiming that NATO troops would be withdrawn from the country.
Read more: Russia-aligned hackers conducted anti-NATO fake news campaign in Lithuania – report
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