Russia Is Reportedly Hacking Montenegro Over Diplomatic Spat
Russia is reportedly targeting Montenegro with a large-scale hacking operation.
The country's Agency of National Security (ANB) said on Aug. 26 that Montenegro is "under a hybrid war at the moment," ABC News reports(Opens in a new window), adding that "coordinated Russian services are behind the cyberattack." (The agency's website is inaccessible at time of writing.)
Local outlets have reported that ANB said in a briefing that "all essential infrastructure" is at risk because of the hack, according to Euractiv(Opens in a new window), which says that Montenegro has decided to manually operate several power plants to mitigate their susceptibility to these attacks.
The US Embassy in Montenegro backed up ANB's claims. "A persistent and ongoing cyberattack is in process in Montenegro," it said. "The attack may include disruptions to the public utility, transportation (including border crossings and airport), and telecommunication sectors."
Relations between Russia and Montenegro have been strained since the latter country joined NATO in 2017. After Montenegro backed EU sanctions(Opens in a new window) on Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine in February, it was officially added to Russia's Unfriendly Countries List(Opens in a new window).
Most recently, Montenegro announced on Aug. 12 that it was ordering a Russian diplomat to return to his home country. Reuters reports(Opens in a new window) that a Russian foreign ministry spokesperson said that "Russia will give an appropriate answer" in response to the diplomat's expulsion.
The US Embassy in Montenegro said that Americans in the country should limit travel, be aware of their surroundings, and "have travel documents up to date and easily accessible," among other
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