Cyberattack on Portuguese media
Unidentified persons have attacked the website of the influential Portuguese weekly Expresso. The site temporarily displayed fake news and a ransom note and part of its archive content was apparently deleted. The motives for the attack are unclear. Commentators see press freedom at risk and call for preventive action.
An attack on democracy
ECO describes what the attack means for fundamental freedoms:
“When a newspaper is prevented from publishing the information it produces, the community it addresses is the victim of an attack on press freedom. When an attack destroys one of the most important press archives of Portuguese democracy, it is the whole country that loses its memory. And when readers who have subscribed to a quality media outlet lose their access, it is a violation of the right to information. Some people don't seem to want to remember that freedom of the press is a fragile and fleeting asset that is more threatened than it may seem in these unstable times.”
A task for society as a whole
Companies need to invest in cybersecurity, warns MEP Maria Manuel Leitão Marques in Diário de Notícias:
“Prevention is the best preparation. Unfortunately, there is not always much incentive for companies and institutions to protect themselves. Attacks always seem just a remote possibility, and investments in cybersecurity are seen as expensive until the day an attack actually occurs and the cost-benefit calculation of that investment is reversed. ... We all need to work together to improve national cybersecurity. As digitisation progresses, it is important that business leaders recognise the need to invest in this area, from infrastructure to personnel.”