The Prague Institute of Planning and Development (IPR) has become the latest target of a cyber attack. Hackers used the institute’s servers to mine cryptocurrencies, Lidovky.cz reports.
“There was no damage to the system, but its performance has dropped dramatically, to as much as ten percent,” said Boháč. The operation could return to normal mode on Wednesday.
The map Geoportal, which contains, for example, a zoning plan and which serves as a basis for decision-making by the city manager, is temporarily decommissioned.
According to the head of the institute, the attack began last Thursday, when it seemed that the cyber threat would not be so serious. The day after, it was already clear that this was a serious security risk, and the institute preferred to completely cut itself off the Internet connection, Lidovky wrote. Now, according to Boháč, all components of the system are being “thrown” into normal operation again, but due to caution and building a new “defense”, the recovery is slower.
The attack is also being investigated by the National Office for Cyber Security (NÚKIB).
Concerns about data loss persist. “IT staff also warned us that such an attack is often followed by an attack on data. They might be able to block access to it and then ask us for money,” the IPR director explained.
The planning institute is connected to the capital city systems, which manage spatial data about the city. That is why, according to the director of IPR, there was a fear that the attack would not spread to the structures of the Prague City Hall. But that did not happen.
This year, cyberinfrastructure was not attacked in Prague for the first time. At the beginning of March, the mayor of Prague, Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates), announced that public administration systems had become the target of a massive cyber attack. However, the municipal data was not damaged. In March, hackers attacked three Prague private clinics, denying them an ordering system or access to laboratory databases.