Hackers attacked Montenegrin government websites and demand a ransom in cryptocurrency

The government of Montenegro reported a hacker attack on critical government websites — experts cannot restore access to the system within 10 days. According to the hackers, government officials must pay a ransom of $ 10 million in cryptocurrency to fix the situation.

According to the Minister of Public Administration of Montenegro, Maras Dukaj, an organized criminal group is behind the attack. Interestingly, the Montenegrin government first pointed to the «Russian trace» in the hacking of computer systems, but hackers from Cuba claimed responsibility for the attack. They published some documents of the Montenegrin Parliament on their website and also claimed to have gained access to the government’s financial documents, including correspondence with banks, accounts, and tax documents.

At the time of writing, it is not known whether the Montenegrin government will pay the ransom or deal with the hacking itself (which it failed to do in 10 days). It is worth noting that the situation with Montenegro is not the only case when hackers attack government agencies. In early July, fraudsters gained access to the British Army 's Twitter and YouTube accounts to spread a ransomware aimed at stealing cryptocurrencies. However, the British army managed to restore access to social media on its own.