The website of the city and urban area of Reims (Marne) was the target of a cyber-attack on Tuesday, September 3. The site was made inaccessible shortly after noon due to traffic congestion. It is attributed to a group of pro-Russian computer hackers, who also attacked other French institutions and companies during the same time period, due to France’s support for Ukraine.
Reims (Marne) is affected. Its website (that of the city and the agglomeration) has been inaccessible since around noon, this Tuesday, September 3, 2024.
According to the press release sent by the town hall to the editorial offices, the cyber-attack does not only concern Reims, the largest city in the department. It was carried out “due to traffic saturation” And “claimed by the group nonames057 (affiliated with Russia)”.
“Traffic saturation consists of artificially generating a large number of connections, saturating the servers and making the site inaccessible.” The press release also specifies that “This attack does not only target the city of Reims”.
The day before, an attack of the same nature targeted the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne (URCA), without it being possible to determine whether this group of hackers was behind it. But it was indeed them for the city of Nantes (Loire-Atlantique), cited in the press release.
A classic case “DDoS, a denial of service attack”explains Céleste Moreau, network and IT security administrator for a French industrialist, to France 3 Champagne-Ardenne. “This can show that the security of the website is lacking. Normally, a Fail2ban system is put in place to prevent this.”
The expert confirms the Russian origin of the attack. “Members of the attacking group, NoName057, have started the ‘DDosia Project’ since August 15, 2022. Six months after the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They attack all websites in this way” of countries supporting Ukraine. The United States and various countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), including France, have already been targeted in the past, as has Ukraine itself, and even Switzerland.
“On their Telegram, they claim responsibility for today’s attack. Other cities are affected.” Thus, the cyberattack concerns, in addition to Reims (see also the map below):
- French aerospace company Daher
- the Franco-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR
- the city of Montpellier
- the regional council of Normandy
- the regional council of New Aquitaine
- French insurer AXA, listed on the stock exchange
- the business club of the Lille metropolitan area
“They are doing this for political demands: we can assume that the list is complete.” Other entities of the “Russophobic France”according to the hacker group, have been affected in the past. Céleste Moreau recalls that at the beginning of 2023, “This group had blocked the website of the National Assembly”. Which we could have imagined to be a little more protected.
On its Telegram, the NoName057 group claims 10,000 members, and reports attacks “more frequent and more sophisticated, making them difficult to counter”. The use of these “DDoS attacks” is presented as a tool for “political warfare“, that is to say war through the social environment. She erects this group, always according to her Telegram, as “a critical threat” able to “disrupt governments and organizations that support Ukraine”.
“The Digital Systems Department of the Grand Reims is doing everything possible to make the sites accessible again as quickly as possible”reassures the city’s communications department. No deadline has been specified.
In April, pro-Russian hackers attacked a small hydroelectric power station in the Marne. They believed they were targeting a much larger one, the one in Courlon (Yonne).
More information to come…