'Hostile' hackers infiltrate Hungary's defence procurement agency

The IT systems of Hungary’s defence procurement agency were infiltrated by foreign hackers but no sensitive data that could harm the country’s national security was accessed, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff said on Thursday.

Gergely Gulyas said the government was investigating the hack by a “hostile foreign, non-state hacker group”. The most sensitive information that could have been accessed was plans and data about military procurement, the official said in a press briefing.

“Nothing that could harm Hungary’s national security was made public,” said Gulyas, who did not say when the incident occurred or name the group.

It is unclear whether any of the information skimmed by hackers might have included data that could compromise NATO, of which Hungary is a member.

The hack was carried out by a group called INC Ransomware, which downloaded and encrypted all the files from the servers of the Defence Procurement Agency, according to local media.

The hackers have reportedly posted dozens of screenshots of the material online, showing details of the air and ground capabilities of Hungary’s military, data on procurement, and the personal details of army staff.

The hacker group has demanded $5 million (€4.7 million) to unblock the data and not make it public, Hungarian media reported.

The EU’s top cybersecurity official said earlier this year that there had been a huge increase in disruptive cyberattacks since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Ransomware attacks and those targeting public institutions were of particular concern, and most incidents were tried out in Ukraine before being expanded to EU countries, according to Juhan Lepassaar, head of the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity.

Hungary, which shares a border with Ukraine, has been modernising its army since 2017 by buying equipment from tanks to air defence systems, and has begun building a domestic defence industry.