On 28 October, during a government meeting, Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova Vasile Tofan stated that the country has become the target of coordinated and large-scale cyberattacks. According to him, this is not an isolated incident: there are signs of a broader campaign involving foreign state structures. Competent services are investigating the possible involvement of foreign states in the recent incident.
The attacks occurred mainly between 19 and 23 October and targeted the state’s digital infrastructure and citizens’ data. Preliminary data indicate that information associated with approximately 750,000 identification numbers (IDNPs) was affected. This does not mean that 750,000 accounts were hacked: in most cases, at least one data element was extracted (name, surname, year of birth, etc.). The attacks targeted not only personal data but also government digital services.
“Our country has become the target of coordinated and large-scale cyberattacks. This is not about an isolated incident. We have indications of a broader campaign involving foreign state structures. The competent services are also investigating their involvement in the recent incident. The targets are not only citizens’ data but also the state’s digital infrastructure. We must treat cybersecurity as a matter of national security,” Tofan said.
The unauthorized extraction of data was stopped on 23 October. The authorities ordered checks of 82 key digital services and preventively shut down 30 of them. Attempts at unauthorized access on 25 and 27 October were detected and blocked. Most of the affected services have already been restored, with recovery continuing in stages. Bank card data was not compromised, as it is not stored on government servers.
The Prime Minister stressed that similar incidents occur even in countries with far greater resources. He cited examples of attacks in Denmark (national population register data, around 8.8 million records), France (incident at the National Agency for Secured Titles, around 11.7 million accounts) and South Korea (breach of the Coupang platform, data of more than 33 million users). Tofan also referred to an ENISA report on thousands of cyber incidents in the EU, a significant portion of which targeted the public sector.
Citizens were urged to exercise extreme vigilance: the stolen personal data could be used by fraudsters for social engineering via phone calls, SMS or email. Tofan noted the need to invest in cybersecurity and establish a national cybersecurity centre, and also announced personnel changes at the e-Government Agency in connection with the incident.
