Europol targets Kremlin-backed cybercrime gang NoName057(16)

A professional-Kremlin cybercrime community has been taken offline after a world legislation enforcement operation disrupted over 100 of its servers, detained two gang members, and issued arrest warrants for seven extra.

The hacking group NoName057(16) has been working since 2022, launching cyber assaults on authorities organisations, media our bodies, essential infrastructure, and personal firms in Ukraine, America, Canada, and throughout Europe in a seeming try to silence voices that the group considers anti-Russian.

Working largely by way of Telegram channels, NoName057(16) has gained a repute for itself by launching distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) assaults

As an example, earlier this 12 months, the Nationwide Cyber Safety Middle (NCSC) within the Netherlands described how a number of Dutch organisations had been focused by large-scale DDoS assaults, apparently in retaliation for the nation offering six billion Euros of navy assist to assist Ukraine defend itself from Russian aggression.

In that, and different assaults, NoName057(16) made use of DDoSia – a instrument designed to co-ordinate DDoS assaults with 1000’s of the group’s supporters.

As Bleeping Pc describes, NoName057(16)’s supporters obtain cryptocurrency for his or her participation in denial-of-service assaults utilizing DDoSia.

The influence of the DDoS assaults has generally been appreciable, with Eurojust saying that the group has “executed 14 assaults in Germany, a few of them lasting a number of days and affecting round 230 organisations together with arms factories, energy suppliers and authorities organisations”.

European elections have additionally been a goal for NoName057(16), in addition to when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the joint parliament of Switzerland in June 2023, and throughout the Peace Summit for Ukraine in 2024.

Eurojust says that “most lately, the Netherlands was focused throughout the NATO Summit on the finish of June.”

Nevertheless, now legislation enforcement has struck a blow in opposition to NoName057(16). A multinational operation known as “Operation Eastwood” has not solely performed 24 home searches, made arrests, and seized servers. It has additionally seen
messages despatched through Telegram to 1,100 folks collaborating within the DDoS assaults and 17 directors, warning them of potential authorized repercussions.

Nevertheless, we’d be naive within the excessive to think about that that is the final the world will see of NoName057(16). With key members of the group safely ensconced in Russia, past the attain of Western legislation enforcement companies, it’s unlikely that they are going to be delivered to justice any time quickly.

This has been a setback for the hacking group, however so long as there’s political will in Moscow to assist the gang’s assaults on Western organisations it’s probably that it’s going to rebuild its infrastrutucture, and proceed to recruit members who could have no qualms about launching assaults on web sites 1000’s of miles away.