Alex Trelinski
RUSSIAN hackers launched a series of cyber attacks on Friday against Spanish government and Granada city council websites to coincide with the immigration summit and EU meetings being held in the Andalucian city.
The attacks are claimed to come from the NoName057 collective- a hacker group set up by Russia’s secret service in March 2022, shortly after the invasion of Ukraine.
The group claimed it hit websites belonging to the government, the Economy Ministry, and ironically Incibe- the National Institute of Cybersecurity.
Several portals operated by the city of Granada related to tourism and transport were also hacked.
The process involved sending a large amount of traffic to a website to collapse the portal known as ‘denial of service’ attacks.
Though not serious, it causes inconvenience to potential users and normal service is restored after a period of time.
“It’s good to have a guest for those who are bored at home,” NoName057 wrote in a statement claiming responsibility for the attacks.
It was an apparent reference to Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky visiting the Granada summit on Thursday and having talks with Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, over the supply of Hawk anti-aircraft systems to the Ukraine.
The hackers referred to ‘attacking Spanish websites with their own long-range missiles’.
At the end of July, coinciding with the general election, Noname057 embarked on one of the largest cyberattack campaigns experienced in Spain, with around a hundred strikes.
Institutions, banks, tele-operators, media and tourism companies were the target of a coordinated online operation, which reached a high point on election day itself- July 23- when the Ministry of Interior website went down twice.
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