Latvian State Websites Hit by Cyberattack, Services Restored on Thursday, October 2

On Thursday, October 2, several Latvian state websites suffered a major service outage following a cyberattack, as confirmed by the Latvian State Radio and Television Centre (LVRTC). The disruption affected key government platforms, including pages on the 'gov.lv' platform and the 'eParaksts.lv' website, rendering them temporarily inaccessible to users.

Details of the Disruption

The cyberattack led to the unavailability of various state digital services, with some users encountering a message stating, 'For technical reasons this website is unavailable. We apologise for any inconvenience. Please try again later!'. According to Vineta Sprugaine, a representative of LVRTC, the affected websites were unavailable for about an hour, with some resources experiencing slowdowns or being inaccessible for up to 1 hour and 20 minutes. The nature of the attack is consistent with distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, which aim to overwhelm websites with traffic, causing them to slow down or become unresponsive.

Broader Context of Cyber Threats

This incident occurs amidst a heightened period of cyber threats targeting Latvia. Cybersecurity officials, including Baiba Kaskina, head of the Latvian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT.lv), have frequently reported politically motivated cyberattacks linked to Russia and Belarus. These attacks are often described as part of a 'hybrid war' strategy, intended to disrupt access to services, create public panic, and undermine trust in state institutions, rather than to steal sensitive data. Pro-Russian hacktivist groups, such as NoName057(16) and Anonymous Guys, have previously claimed responsibility for similar cyber operations against Latvia, often citing the country's support for Ukraine as a motive.

Response and Restoration Efforts

Following the attack, LVRTC announced that all affected resources were gradually restored and are now fully operational. Investigations into the specific details and perpetrators of the attack are currently underway. Latvian cybersecurity authorities, including CERT.lv and LVRTC, have been actively working to repel such attacks, blocking tens of thousands of unique attack sources in previous incidents. Officials emphasize Latvia's preparedness for these ongoing cyber challenges, though they acknowledge the difficulty in combating constantly evolving hacker tactics.

Ongoing Vigilance

The incident on October 2 underscores the persistent and evolving cyber threat landscape faced by Latvia. Authorities continue to monitor and enhance cybersecurity measures to safeguard critical national infrastructure and public services against future attacks, urging citizens to remain patient during potential disruptions.