Canadian Government Targeted With DDoS Attacks by Pro-Russia Group

The pro-Russian cybercrime group named NoName057(16) has been observed launching distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against Canadian organizations, a fresh government alert warns.

Since March 2022, the threat actor – also known as NoName05716, 05716nnm or Nnm05716 – has been launching disruptive attacks in support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

To date, the group has targeted financial, government, military, media, supply, telecoms, and transportation organizations in Ukraine and NATO-associated targets, including the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Norway, and Poland.

“Since 13 September 2023, the Cyber Centre has been aware and responding to reports of several distributed denial of service (DDoS) campaigns targeting multiple levels within the Government of Canada, as well as the financial and transportation sectors,” the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security warns.

In July 2022, Canada’s Cyber Centre assessed that Russian state-sponsored threat actors would continue to engage in malicious activities in support of Russia’s military objectives in Ukraine. In February, the Centre observed similar DDoS activity targeting Ukraine-supporting countries.

NoName057(16) uses a botnet to target the web servers of victim organizations and then boasts about its malicious activities.

Previous reporting revealed that, throughout 2022, NoName057(16) was abusing systems infected with the Bobik malware to launch disruptive DDoS attacks.

“In most cases, this nuisance activity can be managed by on-premises solutions; however, assistance from third party DDoS solutions should be considered to prevent significant and focused malicious activity,” the Canadian government’s recent alert reads.

Meant to raise awareness on NoName057(16)’s activities, the alert also provides guidance on how targeted organizations should protect themselves.

Canadian organizations are advised to review systems to identify potential DDoS activity, review and proactively implement DDoS protections, review the US CISA’s guidance on mitigating DDoS attacks, improve internet gateways’ monitoring and protections, isolate web-facing applications, and report NoName057(16)-suspected DDoS attacks to the Cyber Centre.

Related: Pro-Russian Group DDoS-ing Governments, Critical Infrastructure in Ukraine, NATO Countries

Related: After Microsoft and X, Hackers Launch DDoS Attack on Telegram

Related: US Seizes Domains of 13 DDoS-for-Hire Services