Ljubljana - The information system of the Civil Protection and Disaster Relief Administration was the target of a cyberattack on Wednesday with damage assessment still under way. Being that the civil rescue system is one of the three pillars of national security, an information security official sees the attack as a very serious incident.

The Ministry of Defence released a brief statement on Wednesday saying the Civil Protection and Disaster Relief Administration (URSZR) suffered a cyberattack that morning. It said 112 emergency call service was not disrupted but some internet and e-mail services were, but they were dealing with the situation.

In a video statement posted on the ministry's Youtube channel on Friday, URSZR Darko But acknowledged that their server and software equipment was of an older date but said it was not outdated. Procedure to replace it is under way.

He reiterated that alert centres and the 112 emergency number operated without disruption. When receiving calls, operators write down part of the data on paper to later enter it in the Spin web app.

The Ajda application used to collect data on the damage assessment of the Kras fire and drought is also working smoothly, as this server is not located at the URSZR, but at an external provider, the administration told the STA in response to questions.

In order to get the new IT system up and running as quickly as possible, the URSZR used the most advanced servers, which are more secure, and which were provided by the Ministry of Defence.

The forensic investigation of the cyberattack is ongoing as is damage assessment, said But, adding that the investigation would show how the attackers broke into the system.

Speaking for the news web portal 24ur.com, Uroš Svete, the head of the Government Information Security Office, said the civil protection and disaster relief system was one of three pillars of national security, describing the incident as very serious.

Experts from the State Administration Information Systems Incident Response Centre (SIGOV-CERT) visited the URSZR today, also to examine its readiness for such incidents. Svete said the entities concerned were required to have operational continuity systems and, in extreme cases, an analogue backup.