Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Cybercrime

NATO Websites Targeted in Attack Claimed by Ukrainian Hackers

PARIS – NATO said several of its websites were targeted in a “significant” cyber attack on Saturday that was claimed by Ukrainian hackers in what appeared to be the latest bout of virtual warfare linked to the country’s crisis.

PARIS – NATO said several of its websites were targeted in a “significant” cyber attack on Saturday that was claimed by Ukrainian hackers in what appeared to be the latest bout of virtual warfare linked to the country’s crisis.

Spokeswoman for the military alliance Oana Lungescu said on Twitter that the websites had been hit by “a significant DDoS (denial of service) attack”, but that it had had “no operational impact”.

Under DDoS attacks, hackers hijack multiple computers to send a flood of data to the target, crippling its computer system.

Lungescu said experts were working to restore normal function but the websites remained down for hours and still could not be accessed at around 0430 GMT on Sunday.

You May Like: Russia, Ukraine Conflict Enters Cyberspace

Lungescu did not say who was responsible for the attack, which was claimed by a Ukrainian hacker group called Cyber Berkut, the name given to the feared elite riot police involved in a bloody crackdown on protesters in Kiev.

In a statement on its website www.cyber-berkut.org, the group said it had targeted three NATO websites over what it claimed was the alliance’s interference in Ukraine and support of the “Kiev junta”.

“We will not allow the presence of NATO in our homeland,” said the statement, which could not be independently verified.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Ukraine has been shaken by turmoil that saw a bloody street revolt oust pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych in February as anger exploded over his rejection of closer ties with the European Union in favor of Moscow.

Moscow sparked anger after it sent its forces to occupy the majority Russian-speaking Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, where regional authorities declared independence and will hold a referendum on Sunday on whether to leave Ukraine and join Russia.

NATO and its members have spoken out strongly against the vote, which has escalated East-West tensions to their worst point since the Cold War.

The electronic attack is the latest of several that have seen Ukraine tensions hit cyberspace.

On March 8, British-based BAE Systems said dozens of computer networks in Ukraine had been infected by an aggressive new cyber weapon called Snake, which experts said was most likely the work of Russian hackers.

Related Reading: NATO Puts its Faith in New High-tech HQ

Related Reading: NATO Launches Largest-ever Cybersecurity Exercises

Related Reading: NATO Takes Up Cyber-Defence As Threat Grows

Written By

AFP 2023

Click to comment

Trending

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Join the session as we discuss the challenges and best practices for cybersecurity leaders managing cloud identities.

Register

SecurityWeek’s Ransomware Resilience and Recovery Summit helps businesses to plan, prepare, and recover from a ransomware incident.

Register

Expert Insights

Related Content

Cybercrime

The changing nature of what we still generally call ransomware will continue through 2023, driven by three primary conditions.

Cybercrime

A recently disclosed vBulletin vulnerability, which had a zero-day status for roughly two days last week, was exploited in a hacker attack targeting the...

Cybercrime

As it evolves, web3 will contain and increase all the security issues of web2 – and perhaps add a few more.

Cybercrime

Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus Group informed some customers last week that their online accounts had been breached by hackers.

Cyberwarfare

WASHINGTON - Cyberattacks are the most serious threat facing the United States, even more so than terrorism, according to American defense experts. Almost half...

Cybercrime

Zendesk is informing customers about a data breach that started with an SMS phishing campaign targeting the company’s employees.

Cyberwarfare

Russian espionage group Nomadic Octopus infiltrated a Tajikistani telecoms provider to spy on 18 entities, including government officials and public service infrastructures.

Cybercrime

Patch Tuesday: Microsoft calls attention to a series of zero-day remote code execution attacks hitting its Office productivity suite.