June 7, 2024 at 06:38AM
A pro-Russia hacktivist crew, NoName57(16), and seven other groups have threatened to launch cyber attacks on European internet infrastructure during the EU elections. Their plan is to retaliate against the EU for opposing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Mandiant has linked some of these hacktivists to the Russian military Sandworm gang.
From the meeting notes, it is clear that a Russian hacktivist crew, specifically the NoName57(16) crew, along with several other groups, has threatened to launch cyber attacks on European internet infrastructure during the EU elections. The motivation behind these attacks appears to be retaliation for the European Parliament-issued sanctions, Russophobia, and alleged double-standards of European authorities in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The planned cyber attacks, if they materialize, are expected to include distributed denial of service (DDoS) disruption, a tactic previously used by these hacktivist groups. These groups have a history of targeting Ukrainian websites and, more recently, have expanded their focus to attacking critical systems such as drinking water and other infrastructure in North American and European countries.
It is noteworthy that Mandiant’s threat hunters have linked some of these hacktivist collectives to the Russian military Sandworm gang. Additionally, Dutch political parties have reported DDoS attacks just before the closing of polls in The Netherlands, with the HackNet crew claiming responsibility for spamming election contenders’ sites with network traffic.
However, it is important to note that analysts, such as Mandiant chief analyst John Hultquist, caution against exaggerating the impact of these attacks, as the goal of the hacktivist groups is to create doubts in the security of the election rather than truly undermine it. It is important to remain prepared while not aiding these nation-state actors in their larger goals behind being a digital nuisance.
The European Parliament has not immediately responded to inquiries about the threats, but it is evident that these cyber attacks pose a significant risk to the security of election processes and critical infrastructure in European countries.