Interior Minister says cyber-attack on TBC Bank was identified and responded to before bank’s appeal
Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia denied that TBC Bank informed the police about the cyber-attack. Photo: Interior Ministry press office.
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Georgian Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia claims that a cyber-attack on the leading Georgian bank TBC was identified and responded to several weeks before the address of bank officials.
When we received a letter from TBC Bank officials [founder of theBBank Mamuka Khazaradze] the room from where the attack was carried out had already been found and threats removed,” Gakharia said, and added that when the the investigation is over he will be able to provide more details.
TBC Bank founder Mamuka Khazaradze, who has accused the government of launching a negative campaign against him, says that the bank’s employees resisted the cyber-attack on the bank in 2018 and provided information about the location of attackers to the Interior Ministry.
Khazaradze says that the investigation of the case is likely to be deliberately prolonged.
The Interior Ministry says that computers have been seized from the building and the investigation is trying to identify the people who committed the offence.
Read more about the issue here.
Georgia’s Deputy Interior Minister Natia Mezvrishvili says that an investigation into the cyber threats against TBC Bank has been long underway. TBC Bank Founder Mamuka Khazaradze said he had informed the Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia on the cyber-attacks against his bank as soon as his IT crew discovered the source of the attack.
Georgian Infrastructure Minister Maia Tskitishvili says that there is no connection between the Anaklia deep sea port project and the ongoing money laundering investigation involving the founders of TBC Bank. She says that Anaklia Consortium, had faced problems in attracting funds for the 2.5 billion USD project before the investigation was launched involving TBC Bank.
The Georgian Prosecutor’s Office has published the letter claimed by TBC Bank founder Mamuka Khazaradze to contain threats from Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia.
TBC Bank Founder Mamuka Khazaradze says that he has sent a letter he claimed he received from Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia and which allegedly included threats against him and TBC Bank, to London to be studied, while a copy has been handed to the Georgian Prosecutor’s Office.
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Businessman Mamuka Khazaradze, who faces money laundering charges in Georgia, has presented 12 members of the new civic movement, Lelo.
TBC Bank founder Mamuka Khazaradze, who faces money laundering charges in Georgia, says that he has handed a letter “which contains threats” made to him by current PM Giorgi Gakharia to the Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office earlier today.
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The Georgian Foreign Ministry has stated that on October 28, 2019, the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) Main Center for Special Technologies carried out a ‘widespread, disruptive cyber attack’ against web pages and servers of Georgian governmental agencies, court and media organisations.“The attack caused serious damage to the web pages and servers. The cyberattack aimed to undermine Georgia’s national security, harming the Georgian population, disrupting the functioning of government agencies, as well as various organizations, and stirring commotion in public."
Police have detained four persons for cyber crime in Tbilisi and Batumi, says the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Detainees illegally used personal information of 13 people to illegally access their internet bank and online gambling accounts and stole 42,000 GEL ($14,756/€13,014) in total.