Cyberattacks failed to disrupt Latvia’s parliamentary election

Cyber activity during Latvia’s parliamentary election did not affect election systems, despite attempts to probe infrastructure, LSM reported, citing Varis Teivāns, deputy head of the cyber incident response institution Cert.lv.

Teivāns said attackers tried to register domain names and create websites resembling those of popular Latvian media outlets, including LSM.lv, Delfi and TVNET, as well as the Central Election Commission. Authorities were prepared to identify and restrict harmful resources, and did so in some cases.

Attempts to find vulnerabilities in digital infrastructure continued during the election. Attackers also targeted systems not directly connected to the vote, including those of municipalities and other state institutions, apparently seeking to cause a stir. Teivāns said these attempts were anticipated, identified in time and stopped.

The country’s overall level of cyber threat remains high, but Teivāns said the election period was stable. He said more intense attacks had been expected, and suggested that strong preparedness may have deterred attackers or that they had other priorities, possibly outside Latvia. He said cybersecurity requires continuous work.