On 28 October 2019, a large scale cyber-attack was planned and carried out by the Main Division of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, – Representative of the Georgian Foreign Ministry Vladimer Konstantinidi said at a special briefing at the Georgian Foreign Ministry.

“On 28 October 2019, a large scale cyber-attack was launched against the websites, servers and other operating systems of the Administration of the President of Georgia, the courts, various municipal assemblies, state bodies, private sector organisations and media outlets. As a result of the cyber-attack, the servers and operating systems of these organisations were significantly damaged, severely affecting their functionality.

The above-mentioned cyber-attack was targeted at Georgia’s national security and was intended to harm Georgian citizens and government structures by disrupting and paralysing the functionality of various organisations, thereby causing anxiety among the general public.

The investigation conducted by the Georgian authorities, together with information gathered through cooperation with partners, concluded that this cyber-attack was planned and carried out by the Main Division of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

Georgia condemns this cyber-attack, which goes against international norms and principles, once again infringing Georgia’s sovereignty in order to hinder the country’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration and democratic development. The above-mentioned incident emphasises the importance of the Georgian Government’s efforts to strengthen cyber security at the national level and again demonstrates the need to build international partnerships on cyber-security.

Georgia, for its part, will continue close cooperation with partners, strengthening cyber-security at the national level in order to minimise such risks and potential threats in the future. We call on the international community to give an appropriate reaction to this development”, – Vladimer Konstantinidi stated.

A large scale cyber-attack knocked out several thousand web-sites in Georgia including the official website of Georgian Public Broadcaster on October 28, 2019.  In many cases, website home pages were replaced with an image of former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, and the caption “I’ll be back”.