NoName hackers announce intent to sabotage EU elections

The Russian hacktivist group that formed shortly after the Ukraine invasion called NoName has threatened to assault European internet infrastructure as the four-day EU elections begin this week.

Based on reports, the hacktivist group claimed that seven other groups intend to participate in the plan to attack the EU as retaliation for opposing the illegal invasion of Ukraine.

The retaliation was allegedly caused by the European Parliament’s sanctions on Russia. The attackers stated that the EU ignored a purported genocide in the Ukrainian region of Donbas, which is now under heavy attack from Russia.

However, the groups did not specify what they are planning; hence, researchers assume that any cyberattacks that may occur will include the standard distributed denial of service (DDoS) tactics. This type of campaign has the highest chance of execution from the attackers as it is the preferred threat from NoName and its fellow hacktivist crews such as KillNet and Anonymous Russia.

 

The NoName hacktivist group have also attacked European websites before this threat.

 

According to investigations, NoName previously executed network traffic flooding operations that targeted Ukrainian websites, especially media outlets. The gang has also claimed responsibility for DDoS attacks on European sites, typically in response to nations that support Ukraine in this geopolitical conflict.

Some of these pro-Russia groups have switched their attention to attacking drinking water and other essential systems. These campaigns prompted the authorities to warn government organisations in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.

Also, the authorities last month revealed that pro-Russian hacktivist groups are targeting and compromising small-scale OT systems in North American and European water and wastewater systems, dams, energy, food, and agriculture sectors.

However, prior to the close of polling in the Netherlands earlier this month, Dutch political parties reported an alleged DDoS attack. HackNet, one of the groups mentioned in NoName’s cyberattack declaration, claimed responsibility for flooding the election candidates’ websites with spammy network traffic.

The Commission on Elections has yet to disclose details of the attacks. Researchers and other relevant parties will keep their eyes on this election period as the threat actors from Russia will likely increase their activities.