Pierluigi Paganini
June 10, 2020
Slovak National Criminal Agency (NAKA) seized wiretapping devices connected to the Govnet network and arrested four individuals, including the head of a government agency, who was responsible for managing the government network.
GOVNET is a network that interconnects different Slovak government agencies.
Slovak authorities were investigating a series of suspicious devices that were discovered connected to the government’s IT network.
“According to information from Denník N, the police seized suspicious equipment on individual servers from the environment of law enforcement agencies.” reads a post published by the Dennikn website.
“Investigators believe that not only all government e-mails but also telephone calls could be monitored.”
Investigators speculate wiretapping devices were used to spy on internet and telephony communications.
The news site Aktuality.sk revealed that arrested people include the NASES Director General Peter Ď., the Head of the NASES Surveillance Center Ján K., the Director of the Cyber Security Section of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for investment and informatization Jan M. and one person from the private sphere.
Some of the devices were found in the networks of law enforcement and judiciary agencies.
NAKA experts are analyzing the capabilities of the wiretapping devices, “if the suspicions are confirmed, it could be one of the biggest threats to cyber security in Slovakia.”
Authorities are also investigating the role the suspect played in this case, fearing the possible involvement of a foreign state.
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(SecurityAffairs – Govnet, cybersecurity)
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