EU anti-crime bodies Europol and Eurojust said Wednesday they had coordinated an international operation to dismantle a pro-Russian hacking group accused of launching thousands of online attacks against Ukraine and its allies.
The network, known as NoName057(16), was disrupted following raids in 12 countries between July 14 and 17, they said.
The operation led to the arrest of two people, one in France and one in Spain, they added.
“The actions led to the disruption of an attack-infrastructure consisting of over one hundred computer systems worldwide, while a major part of the group’s central server infrastructure was taken offline,” Europol said in a statement.
Authorities issued seven international arrest warrants, including six for suspects based in Russia.
Two of those are believed to be the principal organisers of the group’s activities, the statement said.
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The hacker group is responsible for multiple attacks on critical infrastructure such as electricity suppliers and public transport systems in Europe, according to the agencies.
The hackers used distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, which overload websites and applications with targeted requests until they become inaccessible.
“Offenders associated to the NoName057(16) cybercrime network targeted primarily Ukraine, but have shifted their focus to attacking countries that support Ukraine in the ongoing defence against the Russian war of aggression, many of which are members of NATO,” the statement said.
The group carried out 14 attacks in Germany, some lasting several days and affecting around 230 organisations including arms factories, power suppliers and government agencies, the European agencies said.
Attacks were also carried out across Europe during the European elections. Swedish government and banking websites were hit, while in Switzerland attacks coincided with a June 2023 EU speech by Ukraine’s president and the June 2024 peace summit.
Most recently, the Netherlands was attacked during the NATO summit in late June, the agencies added.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
