Cyberattacks rose as Malta assumed top posts, secret service report shows

Public sector employees were targeted in several cyberattacks coinciding with Malta’s membership of the UN Security Council and its OSCE presidency, according to the secret service.

The information comes from the annual reports for 2023 and 2024 of the Malta Security Service (MSS) tabled in parliament last week by Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri.

“While there is no direct evidence that ties Malta’s diplomatic efforts with specific attacks, the higher visibility and geopolitical relevance of positions adopted by Malta are likely to have contributed to a higher cyber-risk profile,” the report said.

Throughout this period Malta experienced “a number of cyber incidents”, including phishing attempts aimed at public sector employees, ransomware attacks on small and medium enterprises and denial of service (DDoS) attacks intended to temporarily disrupt online services. The MSS report did not identify the source of these attacks.

Malta was a member of the UN Security Council in 2023 and 2024, chairing the top UN body in February 2023 and April 2024. Throughout 2024, Malta also took over the chair of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

The secret services report noted that the majority of cyberattacks were financially motivated or intended to disrupt service more than targeted attempts to extract sensitive state information. “Nonetheless, the potential for more sophisticated threats underscores the need for greater vigilance and continuous investment in cybersecurity,” the MSS warned.

The report said although the threat of cyber espionage does exist, it is of “relative limited concern”.

Nonetheless, the MSS cautioned that Malta’s involvement in sensitive international discussions such as those related to digital regulation, data protection and AI governance, require more secure means to protect confidential information and communication lines.

“Maintaining the integrity of confidential communications and decision-making processes is essential to maintain trust and credibility in international forums,” the MSS said, adding, however, that it found no evidence of Malta being a direct target.

The report noted that Malta strengthened its operational capacity to fend off cyberthreats, including the development of security operation centres, the expansion of intelligence sharing networks to understand threats, and participation in cyber defence exercises across the EU.

“These initiatives helped Malta develop the capacity to discover, respond and recover from cyber incidents in an effective way,” the report said.

Fight against terrorism ‘absolute priority’ for national security

The MSS said Malta had a low threat level for terrorism in 2024. There was no intelligence to suggest that an individual or a group in Malta, or abroad, had “the intention and the capacity” to carry out a terrorist act in Malta or against Maltese interests in foreign jurisdictions, the report noted.

“Consequently, violent acts of terrorism are possible but improbable,” the MSS said.

However, the secret service continued to dedicate a large percentage of its resources to anti-terrorism efforts, describing this as “an absolute priority for national security”.

Throughout 2024, four people were charged with terrorism-related charges, following intelligence work carried out by the MSS.

In May 2024, a 19-year-old Maltese man was arrested by the police and suspected of having placed and detonated an improvised explosive ordnance outside the Labour Party headquarters, and another one outside a pharmacy. Both devices did not explode.

The case is ongoing but psychiatrists testifying in court had concluded that the man was in a state of insanity when planting the bomb outside the PL HQ.

Police found explosive material in the accused’s garage and investigations revealed the man planned to produce and plant more explosive devices.

In July 2024, a Syrian man living illegally in Malta was arrested and had in his possession jihadist propaganda on his mobile phone. He had also shared jihadist material on social media.

A month later, another Syrian national living illegally in Malta, was caught with jihadist propaganda on his mobile phone.

In October 2024, an Ivorian man was caught sending messages to other individuals on social media, encouraging them to carry out attacks in the west.

The MSS said that despite these people faced terrorism-related charges, none of them showed any specific characteristic implying extremist and violent tendencies.

Nonetheless, the MSS said it will remain vigilant, especially in those areas where it believes the risks could be real.

“One such area which the service gives significant attention to is that of radicalisation by different means,” the MSS said.

The MSS said it did not forecast a change in Malta’s threat level from terrorism.

Warrants and drugs

The report said that in 2024, interception warrants were issued in relation to operations targeting drug trafficking, terrorism, money laundering, absconding from justice, contraband of fuel, cigarettes and gold, corruption and other crimes.

The MSS is empowered at law to tap phones and carry out other intrusive operations to gather intelligence. However, interception warrants have to be signed off by the home affairs minister.

The majority of interception warrants concerned cases related to the importation and trafficking of drugs.

“Intelligence led to important interceptions of drugs, arrests and charges in court of a number of known importers and traffickers,” the MSS said, adding that it focussed on prominent groups in the organised criminal world that are responsible for the regular importation of drugs.

The MSS identified as main threats to global instability with an impact on Malta the Russia-Ukraine war, the Israel-Palestine conflict and Libya.

“The political and security situation in Libya and other countries in the region remained unstable throughout 2024, and so the MSS needed to closely follow what was happening,” the report said.