Officials assured that despite the attacks, government functions and data security were not compromised.
The hackers launched Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks, overwhelming servers and rendering websites inaccessible, according to statements from several government institutions. Affected sites included those of the Ministry of Defense and the Court of Audit.
"The attacks only concern our homepage; there is no risk to our operations or any data," said Christian Neuwirth, spokesperson for the Court of Audit.
NoName, a group believed to be inspired and possibly funded by the Kremlin, claimed responsibility for the attacks. IT security expert Stefan Embacher told news portal oe24.at that the hackers are actively encouraging ordinary internet users to join their efforts.
"The group is mobilizing as many volunteers as possible to increase effectiveness," Embacher said. "They published target IP addresses with the message: 'Come on, people, show what you can do. Glory to Russia.'"
Earlier this year, NoName conducted cyberattacks on IT systems in Switzerland, Spain, Croatia, and Poland.
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Source: PAP