The servers that host the websites of the local authority in the Flemish Brabant town of Diest have fallen victim to a cyber-attack. Numerous council services and departments are experiencing issues with the IT systems and websites.
The Mayor of Diest Christophe De Graef (local list) told VRT News that "We are currently unable to help residents that come to the Town Hall in person, but we are able to do so over the telephone”. The town’s library, several schools and the Den Amer cultural centre are also experienced issues resulting from the hacking.
At around 10am on Monday several public services operated by Diest Town Council reported on their respective Facebook walls that they have “technical issues”.
This has since been confirmed by Mayor De Graef. The Mayor of Diest says that the town’s IT system fell victim to a cyber-attack on Sunday night. It is as yet unknown how much damage has been caused to the town council’s IT system, whether any data has been stolen nor who was behind the attack.
It would appear that in the first instance the town council's internal IT systems have suffered the most from the cyber-attack. The Town Hall’s e-mail system, council services' access to the internet and software that is used to assist citizens that visit the Town Hall for specific services (ID cards, passports, driving licences,..) are all currently out of order.
Currently Town Hall services can only be accessed by telephone and it is not possible to make an appointment at the Town Hall. The local library has put on its Facebook wall that it is currently not possible to extend the period that a book (or other material) can be kept by a lender.
Wave of cyber-attacks?This is the third time in just a few months that a Belgian public body has fallen victim of a cyber-attack. Just last week the City of Antwerp’s servers were attacked. The Hackers’ collective Play claimed responsibility for that.
In September a Russian hackers’ group stole sensitive data from the servers of the Zwijndrecht Local Police Service.