Belgium under cyber attack, all the details
Giuseppe Gagliano's article on the cyber attack on SPF Interior in Belgium, followed by the one on the Belnet network
Last March, SPF Interior, the Belgian Interior Ministry, discovered that it had been the target of "a complex, sophisticated and targeted cyber attack". The federal prosecutor and a Brussels investigating judge are conducting a judicial investigation to try to find out the origin of the action. The offensive was of such size that it could only have been carried out and coordinated by a foreign state.
The Center for Cyber Security in Belgium (Ccb) confirms the importance and high complexity of the attack. In March 2021, CCB cyber experts found traces of suspicious manipulation dating back to April 2019.
This is a very complex attack, where hackers have resorted to techniques specifically designed to infiltrate a network, unnoticed and to stay there for as long as possible. The complexity of this attack indicates that it is an advanced and competent attacker with extensive cyber capabilities.
In fact, the SPF Interior carries out missions such as security on the Belgian territory (public order, assistance to the population, crisis management) or the registration and identification of persons (national register, identity documents). But the ongoing investigation prevents the services from saying more.
Olivier Maerens, communications director of SPF Interior, confirms that this actor's determination and discreet character arouse suspicions of espionage. He points out, however, that the hackers were unable to reach confidential information. In fact, they are located on servers with a higher security level.
On May 4 , another large-scale attack targeted the Belnet network, which connects higher education institutions and universities, research centers and public administrations. This attack had in particular caused the cancellation of committee meetings in the House.
Are the two offensives connected? Nothing allows either to affirm it or to exclude it at this stage.
In the case of Belnet, it was a DDoS attack (or denial of service attack) in which a huge amount of data is sent to servers until they are overloaded.
On the other hand, the offensive that hit the Ministry of the Interior was of a different nature and of even greater refinement. It wasn't meant to saturate websites or ask for a ransom.
This is what causes SPF Interior to say that the complexity of this attack indicates an actor who has cyber capabilities and ample resources. The authors acted in a targeted manner, which suggests espionage.
The CCB stresses that the ongoing investigation must make it possible to understand how the attackers managed to enter the system. We cannot say that we will find the exact modus operandi, given the complexity of the attack, and the attribution of the attack is very difficult.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/belgio-sotto-attacco-informatico-tutti-i-dettagli/ on Fri, 28 May 2021 07:26:26 +0000.