From Greece to Iraq: "Turkish hackers carried out extensive cyber attacks"

Western security officials said a series of governments, organizations and security services in Europe and the Middle East were attacked in what appeared to be planned Turkish action. Among the destinations: Cyprus Government, Albania Security Services and Turkish civil organizations

From Greece to Iraq: "Turkish hackers carried out extensive cyber attacks"

Hackers acting on behalf of the Turkish government are responsible for a series of widespread cyberattacks against governments and organizations across Europe and the Middle East - three senior Western security officials, two from the United Kingdom and one from the United States, said.

According to Reuters, which examined public network listings, hackers attacked at least 30 organizations, including government offices, embassies, security services, companies and other groups. Among those who fell victim to the cyber attacks were the Cyprus and Greece governments and Iraq's national security adviser.

Strictly, the traffic was intercepted to the same sites so that hackers could gain illegal access to government networks and other organizations. The officials said the activity has the characteristics of a government-sponsored Internet hacking operation. Turkey has been identified as responsible for three factors - identity and location of the victims, similarities to past attacks that they said emerged from Turkey's listed infrastructures and information obtained from sensitive intelligence assessments that they refused to elaborate.

The same security officials said it is unclear which Turkish officials or organizations are responsible for the attacks, but they believe the attacks are related because they all used the same servers or other infrastructure.

As in 2016: "Russian hackers broke into company where Biden's son served"

Erdogan and Pompeo at the Libya summit in Berlin last week (Photo: Reuters)

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Turkish President Erdogan Libya's Peace Summit, Berlin, Germany January 19, 2020 (Photo: Reuters)

Turkey's Interior Ministry declined to comment. A senior Turkish official did not respond directly to questions about the attacks, but claimed that Ankara itself is often attacked by cyber activity. Intelligence services in the United Kingdom and the United States declined to comment.

The Cyprus government said in a statement that "the relevant agencies were immediately aware of the attacks and acted to contain" them. It also stated that it "will not address the details for reasons of national security." Athens officials said they had no evidence that the Greek government's mail system was hacked. The Iraqi government did not respond.

The attacks on Cyprus, Greece and Iraq, which were identified by Reuters, happened in late 2018 or early 2019. Private cyber investigators and the same officials said the more extensive series of attacks was ongoing.

Other victims of the cyber attack were the Albanian intelligence services, but they said the attacks hit unclassified infrastructure, where no classified information was passed.

In addition, according to the records, civilian organizations in Turkey have also been attacked, including the Turkish branch of Freemasonry, which the conservative Turkish media claims is related to exiled preacher Fethullah Golan, President of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who accuses him of planning the failed coup in 2016. A spokesman for the cleric who denies connection to the coup attempt said he had never been associated with the Masonic organization.