Russian hacktivists' attacks on European cyberspace fall short

The hacktivist group NoName057(16), which is affiliated with Russia, announced that they were conducting a joint attack on the Swedish internet infrastructure. They collaborate with other hacker groups such as People's CyberArmy, 22C, CyberDragon, Horus Team, UserSec, and Phoenix. Information on this was disclosed by analysts at Check Point Research in their OSINT report. According to this information, pro-Russian hackers also attacked other countries. Their targets included the websites mPay.pl and citizen.gov.pl.

Hacker groups affiliated with Russia claim to have attacked the websites of many Swedish authorities, as well as the citizen.gov.pl site, the Polish mobile payment operator mPay, and websites dedicated to the authorities of the Czech Republic. The NoName057(16) group reported a DDoS attack on Polish institutions on its Telegram channel.

Fortunately, both Polish websites are still operating smoothly. This means that the actions of pro-Russian hackers proved ineffective. At best, they could only briefly disrupt the operation of Polish portals.

"The goal of Russian groups is to disrupt the smooth functioning of public institutions and to increase unrest in Poland as an active partner supporting Ukraine during the war," commented Wojciech Głażewski, country manager of Check Point Software in Poland earlier on the attempted attacks.

However, DDoS attacks are not the only threat. Specialists from Check Point Research note that the phenomenon of hacktivism, which is supported by states, mainly Russia, is increasingly emerging. This is especially evident in the context of the rise in cyber activities related to geopolitical conflicts. Cybercriminals are using increasingly advanced techniques, including exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities, to carry out ransomware attacks.

"In 2023 alone, more than 5,000 victims of overt ransom attacks were recorded - that's an increase of 90 percent compared to 2022. Ransomware now accounts for 10 percent of all malicious programs attacking computer networks worldwide," warn the authors of Check Point’s 2024 Cyber Security Report.