Prague, Feb 5 (CTK) – Information leaks from e-mails as the recent ones at the Foreign Ministry are not dangerous, Czech President Milos Zeman said in an interview with Czech Television (CT) broadcast yesterday and added that the talk about them can justify more money for defence against cyber attacks.
Zeman said anyone can be behind the attack, but great powers do not take any extreme interest in the Czech Republic.
“The nonsensical talk about various cyber attacks is a sort of fashion,” Zeman said.
He mentioned the cyber attacks in which information leaked from e-mails of U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and said the content was worthless “with 90 percent probability.”
“Someone is promoting themselves to raise the number of people who will be fighting cyber danger, to increase the budget of these institutions,” Zeman said.
Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek announced the hacker attack on the Foreign Ministry, which continued for several months, on Tuesday. He said no confidential information leaked. But the hackers could gain material that is sensitive to persons and institutions, Zaoralek said.
He described the attack as sophisticated and added that a foreign state was probably behind it.
Zeman said he considers possible terrorist attacks in Europe and the Czech Republic as a risk, and that it would be serious if a hacker threatened the operation of a power plant or public transport, for instance.
“We largely flatter ourselves when we believe that foreign intelligence services are closely watching the situation in the Czech Republic,” Zeman said.
The attacks on the Foreign Ministry will be discussed by the government and representatives from the National Security Office and the secret services this week.
Sobotka said he wants to be informed in detail because the matter is serious.
ms/dr
