The websites of several Austrian political parties have been targeted by hackers as elections loom.
The unknown assailants launched so-called DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks on September 23 and 24, designed to create surges in website traffic to overload victims’ networks and cause outages. Austria’s national elections take place on September 29.
The targets included the Conservative Party (ÖVP), the Social Democrats (SPÖ), and the Communists (KPÖ). Other institutions such as the Chamber of Commerce of the State of Lower Austria were also attacked.
In most cases the websites were back online quickly, although the homepage of the Austrian Communist Party still could not be reached on the morning of September 25.
Was passiert am Montag um 21:05 Uhr? Seitdem wir gestern diese Frage gestellt haben, ist unsere Website Ziel von Angriffen. Daher ist die Website zwischenzeitlich nicht erreichbar. Aber keine Sorge, schaut heute um 21:05 Uhr auf unsere Kanäle und auf https://t.co/Ce47oyVF7Q.
— SPÖ (@SPOE_at) September 23, 2024
The Austrian interior ministry said it had registered an increase in cyberattacks since mid-September. The targets included the websites of ministries, government agencies, utility companies and now political parties.
A ministry spokesman said it was probable that pro-Russian groups were behind the incidents. Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, DDoS attacks on Western European websites have become a daily occurrence, according to the ministry.
Cornelius Granig, head of the Institute for Security Research and Crisis Management at SFU University in Salzburg, told Austrian media on September 24 that a Russian hacker group called “NoName057(16)” was the perpetrator of the recent series of DDoS attacks in Austria. He said more attacks might follow before the end of the week starting September 23.
Austria is set to hold parliamentary elections in days to determine the next government. The interior ministry said the latest cyberattacks did not represent an immediate danger to the election process. It said dedicated units of the ministry, including the National Centre for Cyber Security, were at the ready to counter any threats.
While the latest DDoS attacks did not cause major damage they were quickly exploited for political reasons. Christian Stocker, secretary general of ÖVP, claimed they showed how problematic Austria’s right-wing Freedom Party (FPÖ) was, calling it “Russia’s gateway into Austria.” The FPÖ is expected to win the elections by a wide margin.
The Ukrainian ambassador to Austria, Vasyl Khymynets, shared the news of the cyber assaults on X, claiming they were proof of the hybrid war Russia was waging against “free Europe” and asked for more support for Ukraine.
Beleg: putin und und sein russland führen den hybriden Krieg gegen das freie Europa: gegen die Demokratie und Freiheit
Die Ukraine ist in der Lage den 🇷🇺 Angriff stoppen. Deswegen brauch die Ukraine weitere Unterstützung https://t.co/YSLEh9GHDz
— Vasyl Khymynets (@VKhymynets) September 24, 2024
