After the hacker attack on the office of the Carinthian state government, the first details regarding the virus used became known today: As the head of the state press service, Gerd Kurath, explained in an online press conference, this was “individual”: “No program would have worked”, the experts said experts found out. The first of the approximately 3,700 computer workstations that were switched off as a precaution are to go back into operation tomorrow.
The first results of the external company commissioned to solve the problem indicate that the security system of the state of Carinthia was actually good: The hackers “often ended up in dead ends” when looking for a way into the system, Kurath described. There was also good news: The Exchange server, which is required for mail traffic, is not completely broken. Possibly today, but by the beginning of next week at the latest, mail traffic should be possible once more.
Work will continue both tomorrow and on weekdays and at the weekend and also at night: “Forensics are progressing,” says Kurath. But one is far from finished; a lot of data still needs to be looked at. It is clear, however, that the preventive shutdown of the entire system following the first infected computers was the right measure “so that the hackers can’t get any further”.
