Romania’s constitutional court has invalidated the presidential elections following revelations of a sophisticated cyber influence campaign with potential Russian ties. The Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) disclosed that the country’s election infrastructure endured over 85,000 cyberattacks during the electoral period.

Key Security Breaches:
– Compromise of the Permanent Electoral Authority’s server
– Leaked credentials for critical election websites on Russian hacker forums
– Attacks originated from 33 different countries
– Exploitation attempts included SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS)

Digital Influence Operation:
– Over 100 Romanian TikTok influencers with 8 million followers were recruited
– Paid promotion scheme ranging from $100 per 20,000 followers
– Campaign promoted presidential candidate Calin Georgescu
– 25,000 TikTok accounts became suddenly active, including 800 dormant accounts from 2016

Intelligence Analysis:
– Attack patterns suggest state-actor involvement
– Similar messaging observed in pro-Russian campaigns in Moldova
– Romanian Foreign Intelligence Service (SIE) indicates Russian motivation due to:
* Romania’s NATO alliance
* Eastern European strategic position
* Historical pattern of election interference

The infrastructure remains vulnerable to potential lateral movement and persistent threats, according to intelligence reports. This incident represents a significant escalation in cyber-enabled election interference, combining traditional hacking with social media manipulation.