The Senate website had been inaccessible since mid-morning, Friday, May 5. The blocking was claimed by the pro-Russian hacker collective NoName. At the end of March, the site of the Assembly had been blocked for several hours by an attack claimed by the same collective, for the same reason.
“Access to the Senate website has been disrupted since this morning, our team is fully mobilized to remedy the malfunctions”tweeted the Senate at 10:52 a.m. At the beginning of the afternoon, the Senate site was again accessible.
i️ Access to the Senate website has been disrupted since this morning, our team is fully mobilized to remedy… https://t.co/6qMIUSezCV
Thirty minutes ago, NoName claimed responsibility for the attack on his Telegram channelwith a message in Russian and English criticizing France’s support for Ukraine. “We read in the press that France is working with Ukraine on a new aid plan which may include weapons, as well as statements by Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna” And “we have blocked the site of the French Senate”continues the group of hackers.
The group also claims to have attacked the site of the National Center for Space Studies, one of the sites of the Ministry of Labor, and the site of the Naval Group company, specializing in naval defense construction. At the beginning of the afternoon, these sites were partially accessible.
80 pro-Russian hacker collectives
“It is obviously a denial of service attack, overwhelming the site with requests”commented cybersecurity expert Nicolas Hernandez, president of Aleph Networks.
NoName, created in March 2022, is one of some 80 collectives of pro-Russian hackers who attack the institutions of countries that support Ukraine, in particular France, explained at the end of March Nicolas Quintin, chief analyst of the Thales threat analysis team, which brings together around fifty experts worldwide.
On Wednesday, the websites of several French town halls were also attacked by “hacktivists” Russians. The hackers notably targeted the IT services company Abtel, based in Nîmes, which hosts the site of several town halls, including Bry-sur-Marne (Val-d-Marne), Juziers (Yvelines) and Ambérieu-en-Bugey (Ain ). A few days earlier, it was the site of the mayor of Reyrieux (Ain), which had been hacked, reports the Progress.
On the site of the city of Bry-sur-Marne, the hackers broadcast in Russian on “Propaganda messages namely “Respect Russia! Otherwise we will continue to wage war on you.had detailed the prefecture of Val-de-Marne.