Swiss institutions have recently been targeted by a series of DDoS attacks orchestrated by the pro-Russian hacker group “NoName057(16).” This collective is known for its strategic overload attacks, aiming to make target servers inaccessible by flooding them with network requests. Since Tuesday, the group has focused its efforts on Swiss institutions, coinciding with the World Economic Forum in Davos, which runs from January 20 to 24.
The attacks have been dynamic, with targets shifting from one server to another. Initially, several Swiss banks’ websites were rendered unavailable. The group has been openly boasting about these attacks on Telegram, where they maintain a DDoS tracker showing their current targets, including various subdomains of admin.ch, the Swiss government domain.
The Swiss Federal Office for Cybersecurity anticipated such attacks during the World Economic Forum, categorizing them as demonstrations by the attackers. The group has reportedly claimed responsibility, stating, “We are continuing to test the resilience of the Swiss Internet infrastructure.”
NoName057(16) is not new to the scene. Last December, they orchestrated similar attacks against German companies, not for ransom, but as a political statement. The randomness of their target list suggests a broader political agenda beyond financial gain.
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