In a concerning development, the Cybersecurity Directorate of Romania has not yet provided any additional details regarding a recent cyberattack that has raised alarms across the country. This incident highlights the ongoing vulnerabilities faced by critical government infrastructure, particularly in the context of sensitive electoral processes.

The group behind the cyberattack took to their Telegram channel to announce their involvement, specifically naming the websites belonging to the ministries of internal affairs and justice among their targets. According to reports from Digi24, a prominent Romanian television channel, the hackers employed a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, a method notorious for disrupting services by bombarding systems with an overwhelming amount of internet traffic.

In response to the attack, the Cybersecurity Directorate confirmed that all the websites listed by the hackers remained operational as of 2 p.m. local time, reassuring the public while adding a light-hearted touch to their message with a Star Wars reference: “May the Force be with you.” This comment, shared via their Facebook page, served not just to inform but also to uplift spirits amid the chaos surrounding the election.

This cyberattack occurred on a particularly critical day: the first round of a re-do presidential election. The date was initially marred by controversy when the country’s top court annulled the first round held last year due to allegations of illegal campaigning by the eventual winner, Călin Georgescu, an ultranationalist who had garnered little notoriety before the election. Concerns were also raised about possible Russian influence on the electoral process, further complicating an already fraught political landscape.

To compound the issue, Romanian intelligence documents that have since been declassified reveal that during the previous election held in November, there were over 85,000 cyberattacks targeting Romania’s election IT systems. This staggering number underscores a growing trend of cyber threats against electoral integrity, emphasizing the importance of robust cybersecurity measures as nations navigate the complexities of modern democracy.