On October 28, several hundred websites in Georgia were attacked by hackers. As a result of the cyberattack, several Georgian TV companies stopped broadcasting. The cyberattack was also carried out on the website of the administration of the President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili. When the site was opened, a photo of the runaway ex-President of Georgia appeared with the inscription: "I will be back." The damage, according to preliminary data, is very large.
The State Security Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs with the support of partner countries are investigating a massive cyber attack on public and private sites in Georgia.
The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs admitted on Tuesday that the attack could come from both Georgian territory and from abroad.
Political scientist Tornike Gordadze, who held the post of minister in the government of Saakashvili, believes that this is a vivid example of "the ineffective work of the government to ensure security against possible threats, including from Russia."
In addition, the French Daily Le Monde saw the Russian connection in a large-scale cyberattack.
According to the newspaper, the current Georgian authorities are taking new steps to improve relations with the Kremlin in the hope of resuming trade with the Russian neighbor, as well as the extradition of alleged criminals. The hacker Yaroslav Sumbayev, who was arrested in Georgia in 2018 and suspected of involvement in the murder of Colonel Evgenia Shishkina, who was investigating economic crimes and corruption offenses, was handed over to Russian authorities on October 24, despite a statement by his lawyer regarding the risk of "inhuman treatment." The publication believes that a large-scale cyber attack could be a retaliation from the hacker community.
Former analyst of the Georgian National Security Council and political affairs assistant to the Prime Minister of Georgia, political analyst Tornike Sharashenidze, did not rule out "the involvement of the Russian Federation in the hacker attack in Georgia."
