Foreign Ministry of Denmark cyber-attacked

It took four months before anyone noticed

Lucie Rychla

Jan 21, 2016

The Foreign Ministry was cyber-attacked last year by a well-organised group of hackers, most likely supported by a country in the Middle East, reports Jyllands-Posten.

At least four months went by before anyone noticed hackers were trying to steal data from the ministry, revealed a report from the Center for Cyber Security.

Hackers managed to install a remotely-operated malicious program into a computer at a Danish embassy, which was designed to steal information from the Foreign Ministry.

Used Arabic names
A hidden virus was sent to an employee of the embassy via email.

According to Thomas Lund-Sørensen, the head of the Center for Cyber Security, “everything suggests another state was behind the attack”.

The Arabic names and terms used by the hackers indicate it was a Middle Eastern country, writes Jyllands-Posten.

First successful breach
Lund-Sørensen said the hackers did not manage to steal any data, but Ulf Mukedal, a security expert from FortConsult, disagrees.

“If the alarm went off first after four or more months, the damage has been done and the computer could have very well stolen some data,” Mukedal told Jyllands-Posten.

According to Lund-Sørensen, it was the first time someone succeeded in breaching the ministry’s protection.

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Foreign Ministry of Denmark cyber-attacked

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