A CYBER ATTACK attempted to take down a number of government websites overnight, The Journal understands. 

Pro-Russian hacking groups are believed to have mounted the coordinated attack, security sources have said.

Four different groups have been identified by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) as having carried out what has been described by sources as a “simple” attack whereby government websites are continually reloaded until they crash. 

It is understood that Voter.ie, a website where members of the public can check if they are registered to vote, was one of the websites targeted.

The Department of Environment, Climate and Communications said that a “hacktivist group” targeted Irish sites as part of a “orchestrated campaign across EU member states”. 

“This activity is part of a pattern of events across the EU and is in line with the experiences of other EU Member States,” it added. 

The department said that the NCSC became aware of the attacks yesterday.

The NCSC has been working with the victims to provide “technical advice and guidance”,  a spokesperson said.

“The impact of these incidents has been minimal, not least because of the preparedness of the victims,” they added.

The incident resulted in intermittent disruption to a number of websites, but were restored. It has been confirmed that the cyber attack did not involve a virus or ransomware. 

Sources said that such cyber attacks had been expected and predicted by the NCSC in the run up to the elections. 

NCSC director Richard Browne said recently that it had worked with local authorities regarding protecting the election register and were in regular contact with the Electoral Commission to protect election infrastructure.

Art O’Leary the Chief Executive of Ireland’s Electoral Commission has previously said that computer systems are widely used for the “compilation and transmission” of election results in Ireland, and that there is a need for cyber-security risk assessments. 

In 2017 the government set up an Interdepartmental working group on the security of Ireland’s Electoral Process and Disinformation under the Department of the Taoiseach. 

The group’s membership was made up of officials from Government departments, An Garda Síochana and the Defence Forces. 

It’s first report in 2018 flagged a “medium” risk of cyber attacks posing a substantial threat to Ireland’s electoral system. 

It said there was an identifiable risk of “register manipulation, including hacking”. 

It said there was a risk of “destabilisation events” around elections, including DDOS attacks, which involve an attacker flooding a web server with traffic to prevent users from accessing connected sites or platforms. 

The report stated that attackers could undertake a range of actions to attempt to undermine the electoral process or call into question its outcome. 

It further identified manipulation of the electoral register and the theft of information involved in the electoral process (as has happened in the US) as the main risks, and it recommended that the NCSC should advance its work to improve cybersecurity awareness and security measures. 

The published work of the electoral commission in relation to cyber-security threats to date has focused on political advertising online to date.