Cyber attacks in Austria: Darknet risk for companies is growing!

Cyber attacks in Austria: Darknet risk for companies is growing!

Wien, Österreich - A new cyber attack, which is reported to do dozens of users of the WhatsApp trade fair service in different countries, also meets Austria. According to the data protection authority, the number of Austrian users concerned could be in the low single -digit range, as the Krone . The Ministry of the Interior has already confirmed that this incident also deals with the Austrian constitutional authorities. In particular, it is an attack that was carried out by the “Graphite” surveillance software, which was originally developed by the Israeli company Paragon Solutions, which provides surveillance technology for state actors.

Investigations and legal consequences

The investigation is carried out in accordance with the EU requirements and are carried out under the direction of the Irish data protection authority, since the EU headquarters of WhatsApp is in Ireland. The exact number of telephone numbers affected in the EU amounts to information from 14 countries, as the Italian government announced. Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, then started legal steps against Paragon Solutions in order to prevent future attacks, according to the reporting of BMI .

The Cyber Security study from KPMG showed in this context that cyber attacks, especially through ransomware, have increased significantly in recent years. In 2022, 14 percent of Austrian companies reported that they have become victims of such attacks. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner also emphasized the need to take measures to improve cyber security, since almost three quarters of the companies have difficulty recruiting qualified IT and security experts.