Pro-Russian Hackers Strike Again: Vienna, Stuttgart, and Dresden Under Cyber Attacks
Pro-Russian cybercriminals successfully compromised and disrupted the Stuttgart city website's functionality. - Pro-Russian cyber attackers successfully took down Stuttgart's online platform.
Pro-Russian hacker group "NoName057(16)" has claimed responsibility for a series of cyber attacks on city administrations across Europe. The group, active since early 2022, is suspected to be behind the disabling of Vienna's city website, the recent incident in Stuttgart, and previous attacks on Dresden and Berlin, among others.
The modus operandi of these cyber attacks typically involves a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, overwhelming websites with traffic from bots or botnets. As a result, servers fail, leaving the targeted services unavailable.
Vienna's city website was brought down last week, with the city promptly taking it offline due to the cyber attack. In a similar incident, Dresden's portal experienced a DDoS attack, causing it to remain inaccessible for several days. Berlin city portal was also affected, though details regarding the nature and timing of the attack are scarce.
Notably, NoName057(16) has also targeted cities in countries that publicly support Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. Their attacks are often timed to coincide with significant geopolitical events supporting Ukraine.
It's unclear how these hackers managed to gain access to the city websites in question. However, their toolbox includes botnets such as Bobik, which they've used to execute large-scale attacks.
The group has been observed launching disruptive actions against government and municipal websites, particularly during periods of heightened diplomatic or military support for Ukraine by Europe. Their recent activities have not only affected European nations but also have extended to Dutch municipalities, Italian ministries, and banks, as well as Romanian government and critical infrastructure sites.
Despite the ongoing threats posed by NoName057(16), German authorities, like their counterparts in other affected countries, are ramped up their vigilance and strengthening cyber defenses in response. This includes international cooperation and monitoring by cybersecurity firms. However, there have been no recent official statements by German federal or city administrations detailing ongoing investigations specifically into NoName057(16)’s activities within city administrations in Germany.
As a precautionary measure, city administrations should remain vigilant in the face of these persistent threats and proactively bolster their cyber defenses to protect critical infrastructure against hacktivist threats.
- The community policy of city administrations should emphasize the importance of bolstering cyber defenses against DDOS attacks, a tactic employed by Pro-Russian hacker group NoName057(16).
- Employment policies for city IT personnel should prioritize hiring individuals with expertise in cybersecurity, particularly for identifying and countering the tactics used by groups like NoName057(16).
- In light of the ongoing cyber threats from Pro-Russian hackers, policymakers should consider implementing tighter regulations focused on cybersecurity, especially inrelation to technology used by city administrations.
- The increased focus on cybersecurity is not only necessary for cities like Vienna, Stuttgart, and Dresden but also for other European nations and even beyond, given NoName057(16)'s extension of attacks to Dutch municipalities, Italian ministries, and banks, as well as Romanian government and critical infrastructure sites.
- In the realm of general-news and crime-and-justice, the escalating cyber attacks by Pro-Russian hacker group NoName057(16) serve as a stark reminder of the intersection between politics, technology, and cybersecurity, particularly in the context of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
