Japan’s Government Websites Come Under Attack
The Russian nation-state hacking group Killnet have claimed responsibility for a series of cyber attacks against Japanese companies and twenty websites across four government ministries.
The Japanese government is currently investigating the scope of the attacks to determine the level of damage sustained. Websites were hit by denial of service (DoS) attacks that resulted in severe operational issues.
Japan’s digital agency confirmed that its e-Gov administrative portal was experiencing difficulties logging onto some services. The National Center of Incident Readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity has said the website came under a DoS attack, in which a network is overwhelmed by hackers sending floods of data from multiple sources over a brief period.
Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department will investigate these disruptions of Japanese government and other websites by the Russian hacker group that were first detected on 7th September. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary reported that the government websites could not be accessed on Tuesday evening but were restored the same day.
Researchers at Check Point Software confirmed that Killnet was behind the attacks, citing the group’s reasoning as political due to Japan’s support of Ukraine during the Russia-Ukraine war and the two have engaged in a decades-long dispute over the Kuril islands.
While Killnet has claimed responsibility for the attacks, Japan’s officials reserve attribution and say no data was leaked during the attacks. Japan’s authorities restored government website operation several hours after the attacks.
The Killnet group uses various tools to achieve its specific goals and breach its targets, including data theft and disruptive attacks like this one. Furthermore, the cyber security expert said organisations in countries being attacked by Killnet must be vigilant of the risks, as the group uses various tools to achieve its goals, including data theft and disruptive attacks.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the Killnet group has been active in support of Vladimir Putin’s government, launching DDoS attacks on countries supporting Ukraine, going as far as to “declare war” on ten countries, including the UK, which were sanctioning Russia.
Check Point: Japan Times: Kyodo News: Reuters: Oodaloop: Infosecurity Magazine:
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