Athens
15
06
2023
MINISTRY ANNOUNCEMENT

Cyberattack forces Culture Ministry IT systems shutdown

The Hellenic Culture Ministry’s website and computer systems have been down since Wednesday morning because of a cyberattack, authorities have announced.
The Hellenic Culture Ministry’s website and computer systems have been down since Wednesday morning because of a cyberattack, authorities have announced.

The website and systems were taken down for security reasons after the attack, while the ministry and the National Cybersecurity Authority are investigating. Authorities say they have found no stole data so far.

During Wednesday, a fake social media account supposedly belonging to caretaker Culture Minister Giorgos Koumentakis posted the fake news of the death of world-famous singer Nana Mouschouri. A subsequent post claimed that the actual owner of the account was Tommaso Debenedetti, an Italian school teacher and author who has created several fake Twitter accounts, often announcing the deaths of fampus personalities. In the past, he had pretended to be then-Culture Minister Myrsini Zorba posting the death of French-Greek film director Costa-Gavras.

Greek Police’s Electronic Crimes division is investigating, the ministry says, without linking the two incidents.