Pro-Russian hackers target Belgian websites after NATO ministers' meeting
The pro-Russian hacker collective NoName057 has once again targeted Belgian websites with DDoS cyberattacks, linking the operation to Thursday's meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels. The attacks appear to have caused only limited disruption.
On its Telegram channel, the group criticised NATO's support for Ukraine. “During their meeting, the war criminals confirmed that Ukraine is switching to NATO standards, because the Ukrainian armed forces are clearly unable to manage on their own,” the collective wrote on Friday.
Among the websites targeted were those of the Walloon Parliament and the federal science policy agency BELSPO. Belga was also informed of a planned attack.
The group has repeatedly targeted Belgian organisations since late 2024, often following politically sensitive events or statements related to NATO, Ukraine or Russia.
The attacks took the form of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, in which servers are flooded with requests in an attempt to make websites temporarily inaccessible. Such attacks are generally disruptive rather than destructive, as they do not allow hackers to steal data.
According to the Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium, organisations can protect themselves relatively effectively against this type of attack by implementing the appropriate technical measures. The centre said it had notified the affected organisations and provided guidance to strengthen their defences.
©THOMAS SAMSON THOMAS SAMSON / AFP
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