Latvian government and critical infrastructure websites have recently come under a new wave of cyberattacks, with hackers linked to Russia and Belarus at the helm, according to Latvian cybersecurity officials. These attacks, aimed at disrupting rather than stealing sensitive data, are part of a growing trend of politically motivated cyber operations targeting Latvia.
Baiba Kaskina, head of the Latvian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), confirmed that the primary goal of these cyber onslaughts has been to cause access disruptions to vital Latvian websites. “The attacks are not about data theft; they aim to cripple the functionality of websites, impacting services for a limited time,” she explained in an interview with local media.
The cyber threat to Latvia, which has escalated since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, reflects broader geopolitical tensions in the region. Two years ago, Varis Teivans, deputy manager of Latvian CERT, had already warned of pro-Russian hacktivists and state-backed hackers targeting Latvia’s local government, critical infrastructure, and private sectors.
The recent surge in attacks, particularly in August, coincides with Latvia’s latest aid package to Ukraine. The package includes drones and air defense systems, an act of solidarity with Kyiv, which seems to have triggered the renewed offensive. “After our new aid package was awarded to Ukraine, we expected this spike in cyberattacks,” said Vineta Sprugaine, a representative from the Latvian State Radio and Television Center.
Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, designed to overwhelm websites with traffic and render them inaccessible, have been the most common method of disruption. Kaskina added that the volume of these attacks is “very large” and that the techniques are highly tailored to the websites they target, making them particularly disruptive.
Earlier this month, hackers launched a large-scale attack on Latvia’s Unified Website Platform (TVP), a centralized management system for state and local government websites. The cyberattack lasted nearly two days, severely disrupting state institutions, including the website of the Cabinet of Ministers.
As geopolitical tensions rise, Latvia continues to grapple with an ever-present cyber threat from Russian and Belarusian hackers, underscoring the need for heightened cybersecurity measures across critical infrastructure and government services.
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