Darktrace comments on the Russian hacker attack on Italy

One of the main current issues this week was thehacker attackof the DDoS type, registered by several Italian sites. Among the sites affected is the website of the Senate in addition to the portals of several others Italian organizations and institutions, such as the Higher Institute of Health. The Russian collective carried out the attack Killnet who claimed responsibility for the operation. Regarding the hacker attack, we record the comment of Darktrace:

Hacker attack on Italian websites: here is Darktrace’s comment

The hacker attack that hit Italian websites was of type DDoS, Killnet’s favorite modus operandi. This type of attack is not particularly sophisticated and is easy enough to mitigate, so much so that there has been no significant damage to the portals hit. However, this is an event of particular importance. Killnet’s operation is a clear sign of hacktivism driven by geo-political reasons. The operation was analyzed in detail by Darktrace experts who analyzed the characteristics and nature of the attack.

Darktrace’s comment

Here is the comment of Toby Lewis, Global Head of Threat Analysis di Darktraceregarding the recent hacker attack recorded by various Italian websites and claimed by the pro-Russian collective Killnet:

“The latest Killnet DDoS attacks against the Senate, the Higher Institute of Health (ISS) and other organizations and institutions in Italy are an example of hacktivism motivated by geo-political reasons capable of affecting people’s real and daily lives. DDoS attacks are Killnet’s preferred modus operandi: attacks not particularly sophisticated and relatively easy to mitigate, but the hackers of this group know they are able to conquer the headlines and generate discussions on a global level “

The Darktrace expert also focuses on the Killnet hacktivist type:

The inaccessibility of the website of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, while inconvenient, will not prevent medical personnel from completing their work and will likely not have long-lasting effects. This is another typical aspect of hacktivist activity, in which groups like Anonymous or Killnet launch attacks that generate hype for advertising purposes, but generally do not access the victims’ digital properties in depth “.

Darktrace also analyzed the role of Killnet. The collective is already well-known in the industry and has carried out other attacks of this type in the past. Here are the words of the representative of Darktrace:

“Killnet is a group of cyber activists considered by most experts to be affiliated with the Russian state that has already carried out several attacks on countries and organizations that are supporting Ukraine. One example is the attempted DDoS attack against a website of an airport in the United States that was directly involved in the shipment of aid to Ukraine. Killnet also threatened and launched similar attacks against the websites of national organizations in Germany, the UK, Moldova and Romania, where the attack was motivated mostly as a response to the country’s involvement in the arrest of a Killnet member “