French government targeted by massive cyberattack
France has been targeted by cyberattacks of "unprecedented intensity", according to Matignon, but what did the potentially pro-Russian Anonymous Sudan group aim to do?
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We have some big news today. We just learned that the French state was hit with cyberattacks of “unprecedented intensity” that began last night and have continued throughout today.
The attack has primarily targeted online services linked to the state, and the government saw fit to activate its crisis unit on Sunday evening “to deploy countermeasures and guarantee the continuity of IT services”
“Since yesterday evening, several State services have been the subject of computer attacks whose technical methods are classic, but the intensity is unprecedented”
- Statement from Matignon
So far, Anonymous Sudan, a hacker group that, to date, has taken credit for Distributed Denial-Of-Service (DDoS) attacks targeting Sweden, Denmark, America and Australia, has claimed that it primarily targets “anti-Muslim activity”.
However, researchers are still struggling to track down the group's primary location and what they are attempting to succeed at. Researchers do believe that they may have links with Russia; however, through analysing their logistics and ideological beliefs.
According to reports from FranceInfo , Anonymous Sudan has claimed to have targeted the ministries of Culture, Health, Economy and Ecological Transition, the General Directorate of Civil Aviation, the Interministerial Digital Directorate, the National Geographic Institute and the services of the Prime Minister.
However, Matignon reports that “the impact of these attacks has been reduced for most services and access to State sites restored” as these attacks continue to be dealt with.
With Emmanuel Macron having made several strong and aggressive statements regarding French and European involvement in the Ukraine conflict, there’s every chance that researchers are correct in their hypothesis that these hackers are linked to Russia.
These actors may be attempting to fire warning shots to dissuade the French state from continuing to support Ukraine, forgetting that the French state is better equipped than others to deal with these types of attacks.
However, previously, the group has attacked several Israeli websites in retaliation to their military activity in Palestine, so there is every chance that this may be linked to something similar.
Needless to say, whether they are pro-Palestine, pro-Russian, pro-Islamist or what have you, it appears at this time that the Anonymous Sudan attack has failed to do any serious damage and only achieved a minor impact on French government services.
But that doesn’t mean that the next attacks will be so limited in their success, and with both the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and the 2024 European Parliament Elections taking place this year, vigilance is essential.
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This is very problematic and worrying. When the was the last major cyber attack against the French institutions?