Russian Hackers Attack British Local Government

Uploaded on 2024-11-04 in TECHNOLOGY--Hackers, INTELLIGENCE-Hot Spots-Russia, GOVERNMENT-Local, FREE TO VIEW

A pro-Russian hacking group, NoName057(16), which has account on the X social media platform, has claimed that it has successfully hacked more than a dozen local government authorities in the UK.

These exploits include attacks on Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole (BCP) Council, Medway Council, Exeter City Council and Burnley Town Council.

Now, Portsmouth City Council has disclosed that it too had been hit by a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack by NoName057(16, although council services weren’t affected and that local people’s data is not at risk. However, Middlesbrough Council's site was recently offline after its IT department was hacked, most likely by the same group.

Other councils in Greater Manchester, Salford, Bury, Trafford, Tameside and Bolton were also hit in a phishing scam incident targeting thousands of people around the North West region.

A possible reason for this wave of attacks may be connected to accusations from the Russian embassy in London that the British government f concealing arms deliveries to the Ukrainian military. According to Russian diplomats, these deliveries are carried out with the help of third-country cargo ships, which, in Russia's opinion, is a breach of international law.

On October 22, British Prime Minister Keira Starmer announced an additional $155 million in spending to support Ukraine's naval forces, including maritime drones and radar station.

The campaign of attacks on local councils is thought to be part o part of Russia’s response to the UK’s involvement in the Ukraine war and some experts suggest that this could be the beginning of broader attacks by Russia on British government agencies.

Image: @Noname05716

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