Hacktivist group Anonymous has announced on social media that it’s launching a cyber-war against the pro-Russian group Killnet, which recently attacked European institutions.
The news comes after anonymous hackers recently declared “cyber war” against Vladimir Putin’s government following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including leaking over 360,000 Russian federal agency files in the process.
On Twitter, the @YourAnonOne account announced that: “The #Anonymous collective is officially in cyber war against the pro-Russian hacker group #Killnet.”
The #Anonymous collective is officially in cyber war against the pro-Russian hacker group #Killnet.
— Anonymous (@YourAnonOne) May 21, 2022
Last week, Killnet attacked the websites of various Italian institutions and government ministries, including the superior council of the judiciary, its customs agency and its foreign affairs, education and cultural heritage ministries.
On May 16, it was reported that Killnet also launched attacks in early May targeting Italy’s upper house of parliament, the National Health Institute (ISS) and the Automobile Club d’Italia.
Shortly after taking to Twitter and declaring cyber-war, Anonymous published a new message announcing that the official Killnet site was taken offline.
R.I.P https://t.co/nEma7uHkcM
— Anonymous (@YourAnonOne) May 21, 2022
The news comes a few days after cybersecurity agencies in the US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand issued a warning to organizations beyond Ukraine’s borders that they may soon be targeted by pro-Russian hackers.
The Five Eyes Alliance (FVEY) published its most detailed threat assessment yesterday, including information on Kremlin-backed units and cybercrime groups that have pledged to support Russia.
The report claimed that the cybercrime groups that could threaten Western critical national infrastructure (CNI) organizations include data leak extortionists the CoomingProject, DDoS-ers Killnet, Emotet operators Mummy and Sality botnet developer Salty Spider.