The websites of several Belgian public institutions have fallen victim to a cyberattack. The cyberattack got under way on Thursday and is still ongoing. Miguel De Bruycker van the Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium (CCB) told VRT Radio 1’s morning news and current affairs programme ‘De ochtend’ that the attack is likely to be a reaction by pro-Russian hackers to Belgium's support for Ukraine.
On Thursday afternoon websites including those of the Royal Palace, the Federal Prime Minister, the Chamber of Representatives and the Belgian Senate went off-line. Since then some of the site have become available again. However, “It is not completely over yet. Each time we succeed in preventing an attack it moves to another place using a different technique.
No sensitive information stolen
These are suspected DDoS attacks. Large amounts of data are sent to a system with the intention of slowing it or shutting it down. CCB has intercepted a list of the hackers involved. It is difficult to protect yourself against an attack.
"It is like if a call had been issued to all drive en masse to a certain road junction. The result would be gridlock. There are techniques to avert an attack. However, hackers then suddenly change and use a different technique and/or attack a different part of the system. It’s a game of cat and mouse”.
Mr De Bruycker says that what is important is that no sensitive information has been stolen. The hacking was just a bit of bullying.
Response to President Zelensky's visit
Everything points to Russian hackers. On the hacked website of the Belgian Prime Minister on Thursday there was a message that read "We are coming to Belgium to destroy Russia-hating sites,"
"Several posts on the dark web refer to President Zelensky's visit and the military support from Belgium that was announced. They call for attacks on Belgian sites," Mr De Bruycker explains. He added that the attack comes as no surprise: "It is a well-known phenomenon. The moment a country decides to support Ukraine, it becomes the victim of cyberattacks like these for one or more days."