ATHENS – Greece's capital is home to the European Union's cybersecurity agency ENISA but despite a proliferation of hack attacks in the bloc – and Greece- 75 percent of workers aren't receiving training from their companies on protecting data.

That was the finding of a survey by Aboutpeople for the Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky – that country home to some of the most notorious hacking groups in the world hitting municipalities and governments everywhere.

The measures taken by several Greek companies and employees to protect their organization’s files from malicious online attacks are not enough, the poll found, adding that many workers have no clue how to protect their computers.

Around 57.9%, it said, use personal social networking channels and chatting applications for internal communication with colleagues and sharing business files, said the newspaper Kathimerini.

And 26 percent don't use Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) that can keep a computer essentially invisible to hackers and hide the IP address, some services offering multiple route jumps for further protection at a cheap cost.

And 14 percent don't even use the basic protection of anti-virus software, leaving them vulnerable to having their data, including emails and financial information, stolen by hackers in cyberattacks or planted malware and ransomware.

As hackers – many sponsored by Russia and China and authoritarian governments around the world – have stepped up cyber attacks on municipal services in a number of countries, Thessaloniki's agencies were shut down over an electronic intrusion.

That happened July 23, with Deputy Mayor of Business Planning, e-Government and Migration Policy Giorgos Avarlis saying the city – Greece's second-largest – closed its services and web applications, “so that proper investigations can be carried out and we do not risk being attacked again,” with no report what kind of defenses it has.

Speaking to local radio, Avarlis said that a malicious virus had been installed, with hackers asking for a “ransom” to “unlock” the files, although it wasn't said if he was then paid.

“We want to be fully assured that everything will work properly,” he said, clarifying that all of the municipality’s files are being secured without explaining how or identifying the source of the attack.