Liverpool City Council has revealed that it has been under repeated attack for the last two years by a Russian state-funded hacking group. According to a recent report, the pro-Russian hacktivist group Noname057(16) has been using bots to try to infiltrate or disable the city's systems.
The Threat and Their Tactics
The city council confirmed that it has been hit with "many attacks" from this group and its allies, who use a large distributed botnet to overwhelm systems. These DDoS (Distributed Denial-of-Service) attacks are part of the group's typical strategy, which often targets Western governments, military organizations, and healthcare systems. Just yesterday, for instance, Europol added a Spanish university professor to its Most Wanted list, accusing him of helping Noname057(16) by collecting information on Spain’s critical infrastructure.
A Growing Global Problem
The attacks on Liverpool are not an isolated incident. The council's report noted that other cities in the UK are also experiencing similar issues. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Noname057(16) has expanded its focus to target any country that openly supports Kyiv. Poland's deputy prime minister has mentioned that Russia is targeting Western nations that have sided with Ukraine, noting that Poland's own water supply systems and hospitals have been attacked.
However, law enforcement agencies are also stepping up their efforts. In an operation called Operation Eastwood, authorities recently raided 24 locations, arrested two people, and took down over 100 criminal servers worldwide, disrupting some of Noname057(16)'s infrastructure. To defend against the ongoing threat, Liverpool City Council has put ISP-level anti-DDoS services, firewalls, and other traffic management tools in place to minimize disruption.
Found this article interesting? Follow us on X(Twitter) ,Threads and FaceBook to read more exclusive content we post.
