The pro-Russian cyberhacking group NoName057(16) again claimed two cyberattacks on Saturday. The Senate website and that of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were affected.
The Senate site was restored during the day, but at the end of the afternoon, that of Justin Trudeau was still experiencing problems. The page was loading slowly, if at all.
The websites of various Canadian infrastructures have been the subject of cyberattacks by this pro-Russian group since April.
SCREENSHOT FROM NONAME057’S TELEGRAM ACCOUNT(16)
This is the fourth time in a few weeks that the group of cyberpirates NoName057(16) has attacked the site of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in particular.
Saturday’s attack was made in retaliation for National Defense Minister Anita Anand’s decision to train Ukrainian soldiers in Latvia, NoName057(16) said on Telegram.
Earlier, this same group had also launched a series of attacks on Italian websites, including that of the Minister of the Interior. This offensive comes in the middle of a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky to Italy.
Overwhelm a site with requests
“The type of attack that a group like NoName carries out is to overwhelm the website and make it unable to respond to other requests,” explains cybersecurity expert Steve Waterhouse. “They have the ability to gain access to a multitude of compromised machines. »
Thousands, even millions of access requests to the site prevent it from working, he says. They come from all over the planet, so we cannot block them by restricting access to certain countries, such as Russia or China.
The goal is to undermine the credibility of the government, so that citizens question its ability to ensure the security of infrastructures, argues the expert.
“But the website itself is not corrupted,” Mr. Waterhouse said. Its integrity is not affected. »
Repeat
Justin Trudeau’s website has been the target of pro-Russian attacks for several weeks. By mid-April, the site had experienced significant difficulties for several days in a row. The page was inaccessible or was loading very slowly.
These offensives occurred when Justin Trudeau received his Ukrainian counterpart, Denys Chmyhal, in Toronto.
“Let me be extremely clear: the fact that for a few hours there was a government page that was difficult to access is not going to deter us from being present and always there to do more to support the ‘Ukraine,’ assured the Prime Minister at the time.
Former police officer and cybersecurity expert Paul Laurier then told The Press that Russian agents were directly supporting the hackers.
“The Russian government will never openly say that it supports [les cyberpirates], believes Mr. Waterhouse. But if they are hosted in Russia, the authorities will do nothing. »
New cyberattacks also took place during the weekend of April 22 and 23. The websites of the Senate, the Port of Montreal and the Port of Hamilton-Oshawa, in Ontario, were also targeted.
Why is NoName057(16) still attacking the Prime Minister’s site? However, this strategy does not disrupt the daily lives of Canadians. “It’s very symbolic, analyzes Mr. Waterhouse. But as for me, it is insignificant. »