France will bring its expertise in cybersecurity to government institutions in Montenegro, at the request of this NATO member country targeted by a major computer attack on government institutions. This is the second cyberattack in a week in Montenegro, in the wake of a no-confidence motion that overthrew its government on August 19. Some Montenegrin officials see it as the hand of Russia, even if the Prime Minister remains cautious about the origin of this act.
The computer systems of several institutions have been “infected”, including that of the Ministry of Finance, the head of government, Dritan Abazovic, revealed on Saturday during a press conference. “The French government responds positively to the request of the authorities of Montenegro and makes available the National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (ANSSI) to carry out a mission of support and assistance in the detection, analysis and cybersecurity remediation”, declared Saturday the Minister Delegate in charge of the Digital Transition and Telecommunications, Jean-Noël Barrot and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna.
France arms itself against cyberattacks
“ANSSI will bring its capacity for analysis and advice, its expertise and its know-how to the Montenegrins to understand the situation and initiate the first immediate remedial measures”, they indicated. They underlined that this mission was “in line with the project to create a regional center for cyber capability development, led by France and Slovenia, which will be based in Montenegro”.
They also specified that “at the end of 2021, France had 45,000 cybersecurity experts, i.e. 50% more than in 2018”, recalling that faced with the upsurge in cyberattacks, “140 million euros are devoted to training new cybersecurity experts”, as part of the France 2030 plan launched by President Emmanuel Macron last year.