18/68 Tuesday, January 14, 2025
The pro-Russia hacker group NoName057(16) launched Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks on Italian government agencies, critical infrastructure, and private organizations last week. The attacks followed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Rome, during which Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni pledged full support for Ukraine in both defense and peace efforts.
The attack began on Saturday, January 11, targeting websites of key ministries and government agencies, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, the financial market regulator Consob, the Italian Air Force, and the Navy. Public service websites, including those of the public transportation companies in Rome and Genoa, were also hit. The attacks later expanded to include major banks such as Intesa Sanpaolo and Monte dei Paschi di Siena, as well as ports in the cities of Taranto and Trieste. Private companies, such as Vulcanair and Olidata, were also affected.
The National Cybersecurity Agency (ACN) of Italy stepped in to assist the impacted organizations, working urgently to mitigate the damage and restore services. NoName057(16) has a history of targeting government agencies and critical infrastructure across various countries since March 2022. According to researchers from Avast, the group uses the Bobik Botnet to flood target systems with massive requests and often launches attacks during weekends or holidays when IT staff are limited, making response efforts more difficult.
In December, the same group attacked Italy’s Malpensa and Linate airports. This latest wave of attacks demonstrates the group’s intent to disrupt countries that openly support Ukraine, affecting Italy’s economic stability and public services across multiple sectors.
Source https://securityaffairs.com/172982/hacktivism/noname057-targets-italy.html
