Montenegro left crippled by massive cyberattack

At the government headquarters in NATO-member Montenegro, desk computers are unplugged, the internet is switched off and the main state websites are down.

The blackout comes amid a massive cyberattack against the small Balkan state, which officials say bears the hallmark of the pro-Russian hackers and its security services.

The coordinated attack started around 20 August and has been described by experts as unprecedented in its intensity and scope.

It crippled online government information platforms and put Montenegro's essential infrastructure, including banking, water and electricity power systems, at high risk.

The attack capped a string of cyber incidents since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February, in which hackers targeted several other European nations, mostly NATO members.

Sitting at his desk in the capital Podgorica, in front of a blackened PC screen, Defence Minister Rasko Konjevic says government officials have been advised to go offline for security reasons.

Experts, including a team of investigators of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, are trying to find those responsible for the "brutal" attack, he adds.

"Whether there is a political background behind this attack? Personally, I think there is," the minister continues.

Montenegro government officials believe that the attack was likely carried out by a Russia-linked ransomware gang.

The Russian-speaking cybercriminal extortion gang claimed responsibility for at least part of the attack, infecting government online services with ransomware known as Cuba.

The gang generally operates without Kremlin interference, as long as they don't target friendly nations.

Montenegro's Agency for National Security, however, blamed the attack squarely on Russia.

"By the intensity of the attack... there may be a more than clear suspicion that a third party (state) could be behind it," according to Konjevic.

Russia has a strong motive because Montenegro, once considered a strong Russian ally, joined NATO in 2017 despite opposition from the Kremlin.

It has also joined Western sanctions against Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine, prompting Moscow to brand it an "enemy state" along with several others who joined the embargo.

Montenegro, a country of just over 600,000 people, split from much larger Serbia in 2006.

It is currently run by an interim government which has lost parliamentary support because of prime minister's deals and cooperation with Serbia and the influential Serbian Orthodox Church.

The country is deeply split between those who are seeking restoration of close ties with Serbia and Russia, and those who are in favour of its officially proclaimed European Union membership goal.

While a real war was being waged in Ukraine, political analyst Zlatko Vujovic believes "something similar is happening" in Montenegro.

"There are no bombs, but there is a huge tension, a huge hybrid conflict in which the interests of Russia and its and Serbian intelligence services are interconnected," he explains.

Other eastern European states deemed enemies of Russia recently also sustained cyberattacks.

The mostly nuisance-level denial-of-service campaigns render websites unreachable by flooding them with junk data, but don't damage the networks.

Targets have included networks in Moldova, Slovenia, Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Albania.

Last week, Albania severed diplomatic relations with Iran and kicked out its diplomats after a cyberattack in July it blamed on the Islamic Republic.