Austria’s foreign ministry said it was facing a “serious cyberattack” and that another country could be responsible.
The ministry disclosed the attack on Saturday evening. It was still taking place on Sunday, ministry spokesman Peter Guschelbauer was quoted as saying by public broadcaster ORF.
“Due to the gravity and nature of the attack, it cannot be ruled out that this is a targeted attack by a state actor,” the foreign ministry said in a joint statement with the interior ministry.
The attack was very quickly detected, immediate measures were taken and a coordination committee has been set up, the statement said. It said the ministry’s IT systems were the subject of the attack. The statement did not say whether hackers gained access to sensitive data.
“Despite all the intensive security measures, there is no 100-percent protection against cyberattacks,” the statement said.
The ministry’s website appeared to be functioning normally on Sunday.