“Lithuania firmly supports the joint European Union Declaration issued in a rigorous condemnation of the Ghostwriter cyber-information attacks associated with Russia that target democratic processes, institutions, politicians, media representatives and, generally, societies, of EU member states,” says Vice Minister of National Defence Margiris Abukevičius.
“We have effective tools at hand, known as the EU Cyber Diplomacy Toolbox, including sanctioning cyber threats, so we need to send a strong signal to Russia that such cyber activities shall not be tolerated and will bring consequences,” says M. Abukevičius.
The Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union made public today states that several EU members have been observing “Ghostwriter” malicious cyber activities associated with the state of Russia in the recent years. The EU and its member states vehemently condemn the malicious cyber activities and call on all the involved actors to cease immediately, and the Russian Federation is urged to observe the norms of responsible state behavior in cyber space.
“The public statements concerning intensified cyber-information attacks on Polish and German political figures and democratic processes in the recent months show that Ghostwriter geography may have expanded, which makes the response of the EU issued today a timely and necessary action,” says M. Abukevičius.
According to public information from international cybersecurity companies, hacker groups associated with Russia have been carrying out malicious cyber-information activities against the Baltic states for several years: they target new portal vulnerabilities, send phishing t e-mail letters and counterfeit identities of governmental officials.
