Pro-Russian hackers strike Dutch municipalities with coordinated DDoS attack
A large-scale cyberattack hit multiple Dutch municipalities and provinces on Monday morning, rendering the websites of more than twenty local governments inaccessible for several hours. The attack, claimed by the pro-Russian hacker group NoName, caused significant disruption but did not compromise critical infrastructure or steal any data, according to AD.
The group, which has a history of cyber operations aligned with Russian interests, issued a statement taking responsibility for the disruption. NoName said their actions were in retaliation for the Netherlands' support for Ukraine, which the group views as part of a broader "Russophobic" stance. "We decided to visit the 'Russophobic' Netherlands to remind them how initiatives supporting the Kyiv regime end," the group wrote on social media.
The attack, a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) assault, floods a website or network with excessive data traffic, effectively taking it offline. These types of attacks are typically aimed at frustrating users rather than stealing information. While most of the affected websites have been restored, some remain down, and the Dutch government is working to resolve the situation.
Sebastiaan Quekel, a spokesperson from the Noord-Holland province, confirmed that the attack was well-coordinated and had been a major disruption, but emphasized that no data had been compromised. “A DDoS attack is frustrating, but it does not pose a direct threat to our digital infrastructure,” Quekel said. The websites of several provinces, including Noord-Holland, Zeeland, Drenthe, and Brabant, were still offline as of late morning.
Cybersecurity expert Lodi Hensen from Eye Security pointed out to AD that NoName's pro-Russian stance likely fueled the attack, considering the Netherlands' significant military aid to Ukraine. "NoName has often criticized the Netherlands, and this is the most active group on DDoS attacks," Hensen noted.
In the aftermath of the attack, the VVD party called it a "digital warning shot" and called for stronger cybersecurity measures to protect against future threats. Member of Parliament Queeny Rajkowski said, "The AIVD has warned us: the world is becoming more unstable, and that has an impact on the Netherlands."
The NoName group, which has previously targeted Ukrainian, U.S., and European websites, is known for selecting between five and fifteen targets daily. Pascal Geenens, director at cybersecurity firm Radware, described the group as a "lone wolf" in the cybercriminal landscape, strategically choosing high-impact targets.
