Minister of Internal Affairs on the Recent Cyber Attack

The Minister of Internal Affairs, Vakhtang Gomelauri, commented on the recent cyber-attacks against Georgian websites, sayinh such crimes are a big problem for many countries and are “one of the major issues in the 21st century.”

“This happens in every country – from the US to Britain, all the European countries. Cyber-attacks are one of the major crimes of the 21st century,” said the Minister. He also informed the public that local as well as foreign specialists are working on investigating the attack.   

“The State Security Service and the MIA have combined forces to work on the investigation process. Our foreign partners and friends are also involved in solving the issue and so we are hopeful that we will get to the bottom of this. It is the responsibility of both state institutes – the MIA and the State Security Service. Since the investigation is underway, I am not allowed to discuss the issue any further,” said the Minister.

Cyber-attacks hit Georgian sites on Monday. Numerous Georgian governmental, presidential, commercial, and media websites – including Georgia Today - were the victims of cybercrime. Government websites (with .GOV endings) were paralyzed. For the cybercrime, the attackers utilized a photo of Georgia’s ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili sporting a Georgian flag and the message “I’ll be back”. 

By Nini Dakhundaridze