The city of Granada has been the victim of a cyber attack promoted by Russian hackers after the visit of the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, on the occasion of the summit of the European Political Community. The NoName057 collective, a group of hackers at the service of the Kremlin, has taken down several websites, including those of the Metro and urban bus services, as well as those of the City Council and the Provincial Tourist Board..
“We are suffering a very strong attack,” say sources from the Granada City Council.. Although several web pages remain blocked, the public transport service operates normally and “no apparent damage” has been found.. “The attack has been repelled by our cybersecurity team,” they say from the City Council, which a few weeks ago had been reinforced in this area to avoid blockades like the one in Seville.. “They have not been able to access our systems, but we remain alert and evaluating the impact,” said the Granada councilor for Smart City, Digitalization in Innovation, Francisco Aranda..
The National Cybersecurity Institute of Spain (INCIBE) speaks of a “wave of cyberattacks” directed at several Spanish institutions. The attack also includes the website of La Moncloa or the Ministry of Economy and Digital Transformation, although the platforms dependent on the Government of Spain, unlike the municipal and regional ones, function normally.. Sources from Moncloa confirm this situation and are even “proud” of having “successfully” resisted the invitations of computer hackers, reports Ignacio Cembrero.
INCIBE has managed to block mass connection attempts launched. “All the services affected throughout the morning are now operating normally, having caused small availability cuts in web portals, and the perfect functioning of all essential operators has been guaranteed,” they explained in a statement..
The attack has been claimed by the NoName057 collective, known for its alleged links with Russia and for aligning itself with the Kremlin's strategy in the Ukraine war.. This Thursday, Zelensky asked European leaders for “help” and Pedro Sánchez announced the sending of six anti-missile launchers. The group has claimed a DDoS attack, in which websites crash when they overwhelm their capacity to handle too many requests..
The pro-Russian group claiming responsibility for the attack due to Zelensky's visit and the possible transfer of anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine pic.twitter.com/GZi3WbQJlh
— mmadrigal (@SoyMmadrigal) October 6, 2023
The hackers announced the attack through the social network Telegram. “Zelensky arrived in the Spanish city of Granada to meet with Spanish President Pedro Sánchez to discuss the supply of Hawk anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine. The Spanish plan to supply the six anti-missiles, as well as air defense, artillery and anti-drone systems,” the pirates warned their followers, among whom they claimed responsibility for the cyberattack on Spanish websites.. “It seems that the Spanish segment of the Internet has been waiting for our visit.. so we are in a hurry to attack it with long-range DDoS missiles,” they said..
The wave of cyberattacks has focused on denial of service incidents, aimed at making affected resources and services inaccessible to users. This is an attempt to respond to Zelensky's visit to Grenada, where he advocated working to “save unity in Europe.” He also hoped to achieve European support so that Ukraine can have a defensive “shield” in the face of the arrival of winter, given the fear that attacks on critical infrastructure may intensify.