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Austrian Foreign Ministry Announces Fighting Cyberattack, Potentially From State Actor

VIENNA (Sputnik) - The statement outlined that a task force had been established to fight the ongoing attack, which began on Saturday evening, and that all relevant federal bodies are coordinating to stop the breach.
Sputnik

The Austrian Foreign Ministry has been the target of a cyberattack, which it is currently fighting, and it cannot be ruled out that a state actor was behind the attack, the ministry announced in a joint statement with the Ministry of the Interior.

"Based on the attack’s nature and severity, it cannot be ruled out that it is a targeted attack by a state actor," the statement read.

Other European states have been the target of similar attacks, the statement also said.

The attack came in the immediate aftermath of a coalition deal reached between former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s Austrian People’s Party and the Green Party to form a new government. Austria's previous government collapsed in May following a corruption scandal that implicated the Freedom Party of Austria, Kurz's previous coalition partner.

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