The Liberal Initiative this Thursday filed a request to hear from Defense Minister Helena Carreiras and the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (CEMGFA) about the cyberattack that led to the exfiltration of classified NATO documents, such as this Thursday the Diario de Noticias.
The Liberals also urgently want to belong to the Parliamentary Committee on National Defense, the Secretary General of the Information System of the Republic, Ambassador Graça Mira Gomes and the Director General of the National Security Bureau, António Gameiro Marques.
In the notes accompanying the application, IL deputies say they were “surprised by the news that confidential Portuguese data and documents from and about NATO are being traded on the ‘dark web'”
“Several considerations emerge from this, the first of which is related to the security breach and the inability to detect it, as according to reports, the government, through the Prime Minister, only became aware of what happened after had been informed by the American intelligence services”is in the document.
For IL, “other issues emerge, issues with endogenous and exogenous dimensions, regarding the extent of damage to Portuguese defense and security entities and services and the consequences of discrediting Portugal with the Atlantic Alliance”.
“So the serious scenario arising from this incident and the implications associated with it are indisputable, it is imperative that the guardians provide the necessary explanations of the situation and with the utmost urgency,” they said.
The IL is also asking the chairman of the parliamentary defense committee, socialist Marcos Perestrello, to “mediate so that these hearings are scheduled as soon as possible”.
The Armed Forces General Staff (EMGFA) was the target of a “prolonged and unprecedented cyberattack” that resulted in the exfiltration of classified NATO documents, the Diário de Notícias reported on Thursday.
The Portuguese government was informed by US intelligence, through the embassy in Lisbon, through a communication made directly to the Prime Minister, António Costa, last August.
This case is considered “extremely serious” and it was US intelligence cyber spies who discovered “hundreds of documents sent by NATO to Portugal, classified as secret and confidential, for sale on the dark web”.
Contacted by Lusa, the prime minister’s office, which is directly following this case, said it has “nothing more to do” for now regarding what it has passed on to Diário de Notícias about this matter.
“The government can guarantee that the Ministry of National Defense and the Armed Forces work on a daily basis, so that Portugal’s credibility as a founding member of the Atlantic Alliance remains intact,” said a source from António Costa’s office.
It also adds that “the exchange of information between allies in the field of information security is permanent at the bilateral and multilateral levels”.
“Whenever there is a suspicion of cybersecurity of information system networks, the situation is comprehensively analyzed and all procedures aimed at strengthening cybersecurity awareness and appropriate handling of information to face new types of threats are implemented. . . If, and when, a security compromise is confirmed, the subsequent investigation into whether there was disciplinary and/or criminal liability automatically determines the adoption of appropriate procedures,” added Diário de Notícias.
Source: DN
