Cyber Incident Victim: Ministerul Apărării Naționale
Date:
May 2022
Location:
Romania
Summary
The Ministry of National Defence experienced a DDoS attack targeting its English-language website, which was successfully repelled by its Cyber Command. The incident caused an unexpected connection closure, disrupting access to the site. Mitigation efforts involved technical countermeasures to neutralize the attack and restore normal operations.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 1 motive | 1 technique |
| Threat Actors | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 0 actors | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On May 28, 2022, the English-language website of Romania’s Ministry of National Defence (Ministerul Apărării Naționale, MoND) experienced a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. The attack targeted the public-facing website hosted at english.mapn.ro, which serves as an information portal for international audiences. MoND Cyber Command, the ministry’s dedicated cybersecurity unit, detected and engaged with the attack in real time. Their defensive measures successfully repelled the intrusion, preventing sustained disruption to the website’s availability. No additional technical details regarding the attack’s scale, duration, or specific vectors were disclosed in official reporting. The incident did not compromise internal military systems or classified data, as the targeted platform operated as a standalone informational resource. Ministry officials confirmed the integrity of the website’s content remained intact throughout the event.
Following the mitigation, the MoND Cyber Command maintained operational monitoring to ensure no residual threats persisted. Public access to the English-language site was restored without requiring extended downtime. The ministry’s public communications did not attribute the attack to any specific threat actor or disclose forensic findings about its origin. No collateral impacts on other government digital services or civilian infrastructure were reported. The incident underscored the operational readiness of Romania’s military cyber defenses in countering overt disruptive attacks against public assets.