Cyber Incident Victim: Embassy of Armenia in Greece
Date:
Jan 2016
Location:
Greece
Summary
The Embassy of Armenia in Greece was among the websites defaced by Azerbaijani hackers who targeted NATO-Armenia and embassy sites in approximately forty countries, including the Permanent Missions to NATO, the OSCE and the United Nations. The attackers replaced the pages with a defacement screen displaying text and video messages that highlighted Azerbaijan’s military capabilities. The operation was presented as a retaliation for earlier leaks by Armenian hackers of data from Azerbaijani government servers. No diplomatic relations exist between the two states, which remain technically at war because of the unresolved Nagorno‑Karabakh conflict.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 3 motives | 2 techniques |
| Threat Actors | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 2 actors | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On January 21, 2016, Azerbaijani hackers affiliated with the Anti‑Armenia Team carried out a coordinated defacement campaign against Armenian diplomatic online assets. The operation was reported by HackRead on January 24, 2016, noting that the attack had occurred three days prior. The hackers framed the action as a reply to previous activities by the Armenian Monte Melkonian Cyber Army, which had leaked data from Azerbaijani ministry servers the month before.
The defacement hit the official website of Armenia’s Permanent Mission to NATO, its Permanent Mission to the Organization for Security and Co‑operation in Europe, and its Permanent Mission to the United Nations. In addition, embassy websites of Armenia in approximately forty other countries were altered. Visitors to the compromised pages saw a deface screen that displayed text and video messages highlighting Azerbaijan’s military power, including an image of Azerbaijan’s prime minister addressing the nation. The hackers provided zone‑h mirrors of the altered sites as proof of the intrusion.
In an interview with HackRead, the attackers referenced a prior incident on July 26, 2014, when they had destroyed the official website of the Armenian president and several ministries. They asserted that Armenian experts had repeatedly acknowledged that anti‑Armenia hackers create problems at the national level and that Armenia lacks sufficient intellectual resources to counter them. The attackers noted that Armenia and Azerbaijan maintain no diplomatic relations and remain technically at war because of the unresolved Nagorno‑Karabakh conflict, framing the cyber operation within that broader hostility.