The investigations, carried out continuously by Post teams since the evening of 23 July, reveal that this was a targeted cyberattack of a particularly advanced and sophisticated technical level. The malicious operation exploited a software vulnerability in a standardised component to cause a large-scale malfunction and widespread unavailability of services, the company said in a statement.

“It is established that this attack did not result in an intrusion into Post's internal systems. No data was compromised or exfiltrated. The aim of the attack was to disrupt the operation of services. To date, it has not been possible to identify the origin or perpetrator of the attack. Internal analyses are continuing in collaboration with the relevant authorities. A report to the public prosecutor’s office is being prepared,” says Post.

Countermeasures were implemented by the technical teams from the evening of 23 July at around 7.50pm. These measures proved effective and continue to guarantee the stability and safety of services.

Prime minister Luc Frieden (CSV) reconvened a crisis unit early this afternoon. The High Commission for National Protection is coordinating the detailed analysis of the incident at Post and its repercussions in close collaboration with all the players involved, in order to develop measures to increase the resilience of essential systems.

This article was originally published in French.