Cyberattacks are becoming an increasing threat to media and telecom companies across Central and Eastern Europe.
Just this week we have seen no fewer than two, with Slovenia’s Pro Plus and Croatia’s A1 Hrvatska the victims.
Elsewhere on the continent, Vodafone Portugal was also targeted by hackers.
Pro Plus is owned by the Czech Republic’s PPF Group and operates Pop TV and Kanal A, the two most popular commercial TV stations in Slovenia. It was targeted on Tuesday, February 8 and as of the end of the week, according to a report by Slovenia’s N1 TV, its websites could not stream live broadcasts and sports events and upload new and missed content to the video library.
Meanwhile, A1 Hrvatska, which is part of the A1 Telekom Austria Group, conceded in a press statement that up to 10% of its customers could have had their personal details compromised due to a security breach. The perpetrators of the attack, which took place on Wednesday, February 9, are reported to demanding €437,000 in cryptocurrencies.
Such attacks are of course nothing new, but to have two occur almost simultaneously is unusual. They could have been undertaken by hackers or criminal gangs – no one at this stage really knows.
In June 2020 Ukraine’s leading operator Volia was subjected to a sustained cyberattack that it said at the time originated from tens of thousands of different IP addresses around the world. Other media companies in the region have also been hacked at different times and with different degrees of severity.
One of course can’t forget what happened France’s TV5, which in 2015 was subjected to an attack of such magnitude that it came close to a complete shutdown. Indeed, that, rather than blackmail/financial gain, appeared to be the motive behind the action.
While this week’s cyberattacks on Pro Plus and A1 Hrvatska were certainly not as serious, they should serve as a reminder that they are an ever-present threat to the industry and could intensify in the future.
For more information about Chris Dziadul, please visit https://www.chrisdziadul.com
