Russian computer hackers have launched a series of cyber attacks in several French cities, regions and departments, also targeting many companies. A campaign following the president’s statements in support of Ukraine.

Russian computer hackers have launched a series of cyber attacks in several French cities, regions and departments, also targeting many companies. A campaign following the president’s statements in support of Ukraine.

Cyberattacks are increasing. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, in February 2022, the number of hacks against companies or public organizations has increased by 140 % in Europe. In 2023, France was the fifth country most targeted by ransomware in the world. An increase in attacks which is correlated with the supply of weapons to the government of kyiv. And, given that France has announced mobilize 195 million euros to help Ukrainian forces – an amount from the interests of frozen Russian assets since the start of the invasion – that does not seem ready to stop!

On Monday 10 and Tuesday 11 in the morning, many French cities, regions, departments and enterprises were affected by cyber attacks, which took the form of DDOS attacks-for distributed Denial of Service, ie “Deni of distributed service” in French-magnitude, as reported by the researcher Clément Domingo on his X. X-ray account well known have already claimed the operation.

Cyberattacks in France: a large number of sites targeted by DDOS attacks

The group of pro-Russian hackers Noname05716 claimed, on Monday evening, to be “Arrived in France not empty hands, but with a wave of DDOS gifts“. Through an attack by denial of service, the targeted platform is overwhelmed by the number of incoming connections, to the point of finding itself out of line. To give an example, it is like a car that goes to a city center: everything rolls. But if all the cars in the city are heading for this city center, the road is completely blocked by the traffic jam, and the city center is inaccessible. Exactly the same with DDOS attacks.

Among the victims are the sites of the departments of Seine-Maritime, Loire-Atlantique, Bouches-du-Rhône, Ville-Dunkirk, Moselle, Ville-Levallois, Mans, Sarthe, Doubs or the North. The official SFR, Free, Bouygues Telecom and La Poste Mobile sites were also put on the ground. Shortly after, the sites of other French groups, such as France Télévisions Advertising, Sopra Steria – one of the largest French companies – Vinci, Saft, the Microid editor and many others were also targeted.

Cyber ​​attacks in France: political claims in question

The operation, carried out under the name of #opfrance, Was orchestrated by several groups of hacktivists, including the pirates of Noname057 (16). HASPPARU in March 2022 during the Russian military invasion in Ukraine, this organization East Known for its DDOS attacks against Western targets supporting kyiv. It indicates that it has taken action after the declarations of the Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu and frozen Russian assets.

This is not the first series of DDOS attacks suffered by France in recent months. Last September, around twenty websites were paralyzed by cyber attacks, again organized by the hackers of Noname057 (16). According to the ANSSI, the French agency specializing in cybersecurity, the number of incidents treated by the agency has climbed 15 % compared to the previous year, as it explains in his report. The peak took place during the month of July 2024, in the context of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. These attacks were “Mainly led by pro-Russian and pro Palestinian hacktivist groups, some of which can be affiliated with states”explains the ANSSI.

The purpose of these destabilization operations is to sabotage, disturb and hit the spirits, by claiming, for example, more important attacks than they are in reality. “It is very important to understand, pFor the very general public, that even if the site falls 5 minutes, it is already a victory for them “explain Clément Domingo. “They can boast of having led a fruitful cyber attack … hence the interest of taking a step back and knowing how to analyze all of this.”

It is necessary to expect this trend to continue, especially since the attack which paralyzed the social network X the day before may inspire other groups of hacktivists …