The pro-Russian hacking group NoName057(16) recently carried out cyber attacks against several targets within Germany, including the website of Deutsche Bahn. The group, with around 58,000 subscribers on its Telegram channel, announced on November 1st its intention to “destroy” the German internet infrastructure.
In a message from the attackers, it was stated that Germany, “in the frenzy of the attempted economic attack on Russia, has not only destroyed its industry but is now also dragging down those who depend on the import and export of German products.”
Two days later, NoName057(16) declared its support for the strike by the Verdi service union and expressed the intention to attack the resources of Germany’s critical internet infrastructure.
Attacks on Deutsche Bahn and More
The attackers specified concrete targets, including the administration of the city of Bielefeld, the official web portal of the city of Berlin, the Federal Office for Foreign Affairs, and a railway operator in Germany – likely referring to Deutsche Bahn.
The website of the mobility and transport conglomerate was recently reported to be intermittently unavailable, according to Der Spiegel. However, Deutsche Bahn has not yet commented on the incidents.
The outage of the DB Navigator on November 1st also fits into the picture, although there is no confirmation of a possible connection. The railway company attributed the incident to a “technical malfunction.”
Rapid Growth of DDoS Project DDoSia
NoName057(16) first appeared in March 2022 and has primarily targeted Western organizations. The hacker group initiated a project called DDoSia, allowing participants worldwide to engage in collaborative DDoS attacks.
DDoSia has experienced rapid growth. In October 2022, the project had around 400 active members. However, within nine months, the number of participants increased by a factor of 25 to over 10,000.
The official Telegram channel of NoName057(16) had about 45,000 subscribers in early July of this year. However, it has now grown to nearly 58,000, indicating that DDoSia continues to expand.
One reason for this growth is likely the fact that the hacking group rewards supporters of their DDoS attacks with cryptocurrencies. The more firepower a participant provides, the higher their reward.
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