Russian hackers attacked several Italian sites, including the Senate and Defense sites, making it difficult to access. The portal of the Eurovision Song Contest, a singing event underway in Turin, is also in the sights. The “Killnet” collective, aligned with Putin’s government and already famous for hacking sites located in the United States, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic and attributable to NATO, was in charge of the operation.
It is only the latest move that demonstrates how the announced cyber war between Ukraine and Russia, which will gradually involve many other countries, is beginning to take shape. So far, what was supposed to be the first authentic cyberwar of the century has manifested itself at low intensity, but since last January, meanwhile, about seventy Ukrainian websites – including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education – have been taken out of use. thanks to multiple cyber attacks from hacker groups linked to Moscow and Belarus. And the tension is rising.
The first attacks
The evidence ascertained in recent months testifies to cyber attacks, such as that of 29 April when the Prime Minister of Romania, Nicolae Ciuca, announced that some government websites had suffered a DDos attack, distributed denial of service (blocking of the site), including which the border police portal and the national railway company. The attack had produced the unavailability of the sites for only a few hours and the Romanian intelligence had pointed the finger at Killnet, also famous for having hacked sites located in the United States, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic and attributable to NATO. Indeed, Killnet later claimed the action, saying it was a direct consequence of Romania’s intention to provide more support to Ukraine through the supply of weapons.
Now Killnet is claiming on Telegram the “attack on Italy”, publishing a series of addresses that would have been violated: in addition to the Senate and Defense, the High School of Lucca, the Higher Institute of Health, Banca Compass, Infomedix (a service company to companies) and the Aci.
According to the very recent “Q1 / 2022” report prepared by Avast, a leading cybersecurity company, the Gamaredon group and the Conti group – Russian cybercriminals among the most powerful and trusted supporters of the Moscow government – conduct daily attacks against Ukrainian government sites, and the same Conti group has promised such retaliation ransomware against anyone conducting cyber attacks against Russia. In the first quarter of 2022 hacking increases in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus: + 50% of type attacks remote access trojan (Rat), + 30% of botnets and + 20% of spyware for cyber espionage actions.