Romania foreign ministry target of “surgical” cyberattack

BUCHAREST, Romania – A Romanian cyber intelligence official has confirmed the foreign ministry had been the target of a “surgical, targeted, specialized” cyberattack likely orchestrated by another country.

Anton Rog, who heads the government’s Cyberint centre, called the attack “an advanced persistent threat,” adding “normally, behind these kinds of attacks is another state.” He said a cyberattack of this nature “costs millions of dollars, even hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Rog said Wednesday that the attack was intercepted and “resolved.” He declined to speculate who attacked ministry employees on Friday with an email pretending to be from a NATO official. “It is very, very hard, even impossible,” to identify the attacker, because the attacker could impersonate another state.