Yahoo News Montenegro asks for British help after cyber attacks in wake of 'Russian-backed coup plot'
Montenegro has asked Britain for technical help to defend against cyber attacks after suffering a barrage of online assaults in the wake of an alleged Russian-backed coup plot.
The Balkan nation says it suffered sustained cyber attacks against state websites on the day the foiled coup was due to take place, and then faced another wave of attacks in February.
Both Montenegro and British officials have accused Russia of being behind the coup plot, to stop Montenegro joining Nato. Russia has rejected the accusations.
Montenegrin leaders asked Sir Alan Duncan, Foreign Office minister, for British technical assistance to repel cyber attacks when he visited the country last week. UK and American intelligence agencies are already helping the country investigate the coup plot to assassinate the then prime minister, Milo Djukanovic, on October 16, 2016.
The country said government and media websites came under attack on October 16 and again for several days in mid-February.
A government statement said: “The scope and diversity of the attacks and the fact that they are undertaken on the professional level indicates that this was planned and synchronised action.”
It said the country was still working to identify the culprits, but the attacks appeared to be aimed at “disabling distribution of information to Montenegrin and international public”.
British sources said the cyber attacks were being “viewed in the context of the coup plot”.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We stand ready to engage with Montenegro on cyber security issues, following recent attacks on government websites."
Russia has been accused of significantly escalating cyber attacks on the West in the past 12 months including operations designed to leak sensitive emails to sway the US presidential election in favour of Donald Trump. Russia has denied the attacks and says its own systems have come under attack from Western intelligence agencies.
Ukraine earlier this year also asked for British help to build its cyber defences after the country reported a wave of online attacks against state institutions, and said it was facing a cyber war from Russia.
Stepan Poltorak, Ukraine’s defence minister, told his British counterpart, Sir Michael Fallon, he wanted British expertise to help update and protect his country’s defence systems which have come under repeated attack.
Meanwhile, one of Britain’s most senior commanders met with Russian defence chiefs in Moscow for talks on how to avoid accidents and confrontation between the two nations’ militaries.
Gen Sir Gordon Messenger, Vice Chief of the Defence Staff, met his Russian counterpart Gen Alexander Zhuravlev. General Zhuravlyov to discuss how to avoid accidental clashes in Syria or elsewhere.
