Latest news with #NoName057
Morocco World
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Morocco World
Spanish Government Reports No Signs of Cyberattack in April Power Outage
Rabat — The Spanish government confirmed on Wednesday that no evidence of a cyberattack emerged in their investigation of the massive power outage that struck Spain and Portugal on April 28. Officials also revealed the blackout began with a series of incidents in the southwest region of the country. Speaking to the Spanish parliament, Transition Ecology Minister Sara Aagesen said the finding represents 'very good news,' following a thorough analysis of all relevant data. She stressed that investigators found no indication that the system operator, Red Electrica Española (REE), suffered any form of cyberattack. This confirmation aligns with earlier statements by the REE Operations Director Eduardo Prieto, who dismissed the cyberattack theory the day after the outage, saying security teams detected no intrusions in the company's control systems. Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had initially urged caution, refusing to rule out any possibilities. Read also: Spanish FM Albares Thanks Morocco for Critical Support During Blackout During her testimony, Aagesen outlined the sequence of events leading to the major, unprecedented blackout that hit the Iberian Peninsula. Investigators identified two major power grid oscillations in the 30 minutes before the outage, precisely at 12:03 and 12:19. Following these fluctuations, three separate incidents occurred within about 20 seconds at 12:33 – the first at an electrical substation in Granada province, the second near Badajoz, and the third in Seville province. Current estimates from system operators indicate that these three events collectively caused a loss of more than 2.2 gigawatts of electricity, triggering the automatic disconnection of the Iberian Peninsula from the rest of the European power network. The minister noted investigators still need to determine whether the two oscillations detected half an hour earlier directly contributed to the outage. She called for patience regarding conclusions about the blackout's origin, saying the government wants 'to know the truth as quickly as possible.' However, Aagesen added that the analysis 'will take as long as necessary.' Aagesen also criticized those who claimed to understand the entire situation 'with absolute certainty' in the immediate aftermath. 'We will not let haste lead us away from the truth,' she insisted, while defending renewable energy sources that opposition parties had blamed for the outage. The Spanish minister argued that renewable energies play a significant role in protecting the country against 'external risks' to energy supplies. Pro-Russian hacktivist theory On the following day of the major blackout, pro-Russian hacktivist groups Dark Storm Team and NoName057 claimed responsibility for the power outage that hit Spain and Portugal. The groups took to the X platform, writing: 'Today [Monday], we and the NoName057 team succeeded in cutting off the electricity in some NATO countries,' and posting a cryptic photo with a list of Portuguese ministries' URLs. Mentioning NATO in their post, the hacktivists triggered doubts over a larger vision targeting NATO countries' vital sectors through cyber attacks. Spain's recent findings deny any possibility of a cyberattack that led to the major power outage in the Iberian Peninsula, ruling out any potential theory of a cyberwar against NATO members.
Business Mayor
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Mayor
Pro-Russian hackers claim to have targeted several UK websites
A pro-Russian hacking group has claimed to have successfully targeted a range of UK websites, including local councils and the Association for Police and Crime Commissioners, during a three-day campaign. In a series of social media posts, the group calling itself NoName057(16) suggested it had made a number of websites temporarily inaccessible, although it is understood the attacks were not wholly successful. The hackers sought to flood a range of websites with internet traffic in what is known as a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. The group wrote on X: 'Britain is invested in the escalation of the [Ukraine] conflict, and we are disconnecting its resources.' Its success was limited, however, with councils in Blackburn and Darwen and Exeter among those reporting that their websites were unaffected despite the hacking group's claims of success. A number of other allegedly targeted organisations, including the Association for Police and Crime Commissioners, Harwich International Port, and Cardiff city council were unavailable for comment. Where websites did temporarily become inaccessible due to the sudden surge of traffic, they were back operating within hours, officials said. A spokesperson at Arun district council said: 'We can confirm that we did experience problems with our website [on Tuesday morning] starting around 7.15am, our website was fully operational by 11.30am. We are aware of the claims made on X and continue to investigate.' The National Highways said they had also faced a DDoS attack but that the website would soon be operating as normal. The attack is a rerun of an attempt made last October to disrupt the websites of half a dozen councils. It did not put at risk the data of users or residents but disabled the websites for a short period as they were swamped by traffic. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said at the time that the agency had 'provided guidance' to affected local authorities. 'Whilst DDoS attacks are relatively low in sophistication and impact, they can cause disruption by preventing legitimate users from accessing online services,' it said. Since its launch in 2022, NoName057(16) has used such attacks to disrupt the running of a range of Ukrainian, European and American government agencies and media outlets. In January 2023, it targeted the websites of Czech presidential candidates in a first attempt to attack political figures. Research published last summer by the cybersecurity company Bridewell found that 63% of businesses in the government sector had experienced a ransomware attack over the past 12 months. The National Audit Office warned in January that the 'cyber threat to UK government is severe and advancing quickly'. The NCSC was forced to issue new guidance this week after a spate of cyber-attacks on retailers that appear to have been made possible through criminals impersonating IT help desks. They include attacks on Marks & Spencer, Co-op and Harrods. The criminals had targeted IT help desks to change passwords and reset authentication processes as they sought to gain access to systems. Of the attacks on retailers, the NCSC said it was 'not yet in a position to say if they are linked, if this is a concerted campaign by a single actor or whether there is no link between them at all'.
The Guardian
07-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Pro-Russian hackers claim to have targeted several UK websites
A pro-Russian hacking group has claimed to have successfully targeted a range of UK websites, including local councils and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, during a three-day campaign. In a series of social media posts, the group calling itself NoName057(16) suggested it had made a number of websites temporarily inaccessible, although it is understood the attacks were not wholly successful. The hackers sought to flood a range of websites with internet traffic in what is known as a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. The group wrote on X: 'Britain is invested in the escalation of the [Ukraine] conflict, and we are disconnecting its resources.' Its success was limited, however, with councils in Blackburn and Darwen and Exeter among those reporting that their website was unaffected despite the hacking group's claims of success. A number of other allegedly targeted organisations, including the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, Harwich International Port, the National Highways and Cardiff city council were unavailable for comment. Where websites did temporarily become inaccessible due to the sudden surge of traffic, they were back operating within hours, officials said. A spokesperson at Arun district council said: 'We can confirm that we did experience problems with our website [on Tuesday morning] starting around 7.15am, our website was fully operational by 11.30am. We are aware of the claims made on X and continue to investigate.' The attack is a rerun of an attempt made last October to disrupt the websites of half a dozen councils. It did not put at risk the data of users or residents but disabled the websites for a short period as they were swamped by traffic. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said at the time that the agency had 'provided guidance' to affected local authorities. 'Whilst DDoS attacks are relatively low in sophistication and impact, they can cause disruption by preventing legitimate users from accessing online services,' it said. Since its launch in 2022, NoName057(16) has used such attacks to disrupt the running of a range of Ukrainian, European and American government agencies and media outlets. In January 2023, it targeted the websites of Czech presidential candidates in a first attempt to attack political figures. Research published last summer by the cybersecurity company Bridewell found that 63% of businesses in the government sector had experienced a ransomware attack over the past 12 months. The National Audit Office warned in January that the 'cyber threat to UK government is severe and advancing quickly'. The NCSC was forced to issue new guidance this week after a spate of cyber-attacks on retailers that appear to have been made possible through criminals impersonating IT help desks. They include attacks on Marks & Spencer, Co-op and Harrods. The criminals had targeted IT help desks to change passwords and reset authentication processes as they sought to gain access to systems. Of the attacks on retailers, the NCSC said it was 'not yet in a position to say if they are linked, if this is a concerted campaign by a single actor or whether there is no link between them at all'.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Romanian presidential election: Russian hackers attack government websites
A group of Russian hackers attacked several Romanian government and presidential candidate websites on Sunday 4 May as the country voted for its next president in the first round. The attack was carried out by a group known as DDOSIA/NoName057. Source: Romanian news agency G4media, as reported by European Pravda Details: The attack hit the website of the Romanian Constitutional Court, the main government portal, the website of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the websites of presidential candidates. The National Cybersecurity Directorate said that the sites of the candidates under attack included those of Crin Antonescu, a candidate from the ruling coalition, and Bucharest Mayor Nicușor Dan, an independent candidate. The hackers claimed responsibility for the cyberattack on their Telegram channel, indicating that the websites of the ministries of interior and justice were among their targets. Romania's National Cybersecurity Directorate said that the websites listed by the hacker group were already up and running at 14:00 local time. Background: On 4 May, Romania held the first round of the presidential election, which resulted in the victory of pro-Russian far-right leader George Simion with 40.94% of the vote and liberal Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan receiving 20.99%. Dan expressed optimism about his future victory, although he acknowledged that the second round of elections would be difficult. Antonescu conceded his defeat in the election but avoided answering which candidate he would support in the second round. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Wales Online
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Wales Online
Key information issued for people going on holiday to Portugal and Spain after countries plunged into chaos
Key information issued for people going on holiday to Portugal and Spain after countries plunged into chaos The European Union's cyber security wing ruled out that the power outage was the result of a hack The blackout prompted travel chaos in Spain and Portugal (Image: (Image: Getty) ) The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has now removed its online warning which was urging people to plan ahead if they are due to visit Spain and Portugal, now that the travel issues which arose as power outages which affected parts of Spain and Portugal and the aftermath of this has settled. Two cybercriminal groups, Dark Storm Team and NoName057, have claimed responsibility for the power outage that left Spain and parts of Portugal and France in darkness on Monday. The pro-Russian hacking collectives shared messages on social media platforms Telegram and X, boasting about their alleged involvement and posting links to what they claim are compromised Portuguese government networks. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here . On platform X, a message from the Darkstorm handle read: "Isn't it funny to cut off electricity to countries from home?", alongside shared links purporting to disrupt major Portuguese ministries including the Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Environment and Climate Action and The Presidency of the Council of Ministers. Reports suggest that internet test data from check-Host showed these services were either down or experiencing degraded performance at the time the hacker group was posting. Online hacking monitoring site Leakd reported that despite no malign hacking state being officially confirmed by investigators of the outage, NoName057 is a known pro-Russian hactivist group which the site says has "previously been linked to operations targeting NATO-affiliated nations and institutions critical of Russian foreign policy". Article continues below It added that while there was no confirmation the "blackout was directly caused by a cyberattack, the implications are chilling." If proven to be a cyberattack, the site suggests it would rank among the largest attacks on civilian sites in Europe. The cause behind the extensive blackouts that left Spain and Portugal in the dark remains unsolved as of today (Tuesday), despite power being largely reinstated in both nations, with some minor disruptions persisting. Monday witnessed one of Europe's most severe blackouts, which halted flights, immobilised metro services, interrupted mobile networks, and caused ATMs to shut down throughout the Iberian Peninsula. By Tuesday morning, over 99% of Spain's energy demand had been recovered, according to the national electricity operator Red Eléctrica. Portuguese grid company REN reported that all 89 power substations were operational again, and electricity had been restored to every one of their 6.4 million customers. As normality started to resume - with schools and businesses reopening, traffic congestion subsiding, and public transport systems getting back on track - the Spanish authorities have not yet offered an explanation for the blackout, one of the gravest ever experienced in Europe. In a matter of just five seconds, Spain, home to 49 million people, lost 15 gigawatts, amounting to 60% of its national demand. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez emphasised that the government was concentrating on two main objectives: re-establishing Spain's electrical infrastructure and determining the reasons behind the blackout to ensure such an incident "never takes place again." The scale of this electrical outage is almost without parallel in the history of the Iberian Peninsula or Europe. Eduardo Prieto, director of services for system operations at Spain's electricity operator, highlighted two sharp "disconnection events" that preceded Monday's blackout. At a press briefing on Tuesday, he mentioned the need for further investigation to determine their causes. Spain's weather authority, AEMET, reported no detection of "unusual meteorological or atmospheric phenomena" on the day of the blackout, with no abrupt temperature changes noted at their stations. Portugal's National Cybersecurity Center has ruled out the possibility of foul play, confirming the absence of evidence pointing to a cyber attack as the cause of the power failure. Article continues below Adding to the assurances, European Council President Antonio Costa stated there were "no indications of any cyber attack," and Teresa Ribera, an executive vice president of the European Commission, also dismissed the idea of sabotage. Despite these clarifications, Ribera described the incident as "one of the most serious episodes recorded in Europe in recent times."
