Pro-Russian hacking group Noname057(16) has claimed responsibility for a recent cyberattack. According to a report by Euronews, French prosecutors announced that this cybersecurity incident disrupted France’s national postal service, La Poste, during the Christmas rush. France’s intelligence agency, DGSI, has taken over the investigation following the group’s claim, the report claimed, citing the Paris prosecutor’s office. The incident occurs as European intelligence agencies report that investigations into Russian interference now require as much operational time as monitoring terrorist threats.The latest attack on the country’s postal service took place just days after France’s government reported a separate cyberattack targeting the Interior Ministry, which handles national security matters. In that attack, a suspected hacker stole several dozen sensitive documents and accessed police records and information about people wanted by authorities, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, who spoke with broadcaster Franceinfo.
How the cyberattack on France’s national postal service La Poste
The latest cyberattack happened during the busiest time of year for La Poste, which has more than 200,000 workers.Earlier this week, La Poste’s main computers stopped working after hackers flooded the systems with traffic. The problems continued for a couple of days after the attack was first reported. Postal workers could not see where packages were going, and customers could not make online payments through the company’s bank, La Banque Postale.Apart from the latest cyberattack on France’s postal service, Noname057(16) has previously targeted websites in Ukraine, Poland, Sweden, and Germany, hitting media companies, government offices, and businesses.Police from 12 countries worked together in July to stop the group in an operation called Eastwood. They shut down more than 100 computer servers around the world, arrested two people in France and Spain, and issued seven warrants to arrest others, including six Russians. But the group resumed attacks within days and remains active.The group has hit French government websites before, including the Justice Ministry and several local government offices and cities.Last week, prosecutors said France’s spy agency is investigating a planned cyberattack involving software that could have enabled someone to control computer systems on a large passenger ferry from afar. A crew member from Latvia is being held on charges of working for another country, though officials did not say which one.A French official strongly suggested Russia was involved, saying “foreign interference very often comes from the same country,” but France has not officially blamed any country yet.France and other European countries that support Ukraine say Russia is carrying out a campaign of attacks through sabotage, killings, computer hacking, and spreading false information to divide Western countries and weaken their support for Ukraine.Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Western officials have blamed Russia for dozens of sabotage attacks across Europe, including setting fire to warehouses, damaging railways, and destroying property.