Spain has suffered 72 distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks in March, compared to only one attack the previous month. Hacktivists and other attackers targeted the Spanish Prime Minister’s Office website, technology and defense company Indra, and other Spanish websites.
A new report by Group-IB warns about a surge in DDoS attacks against European countries. In March, there was an 88% increase in DDoS and similar hacktivism attacks.
“DDoS attacks rose sharply, driven by a 7100% increase in Spain,” Group-IB said.
Thirty DDoS attacks hit France, an increase of 131% compared to the previous months. Ukraine and Belgium suffered 26 and 11 attacks, respectively.
Multiple groups were involved in the attacks against Spain. Mr.Hamza Group, which first appeared in October 2024, took responsibility for an attack on the Spanish Prime Minister’s Office website. A pro-Russian hacker group, TwoNet, said it attacked Indra, a defence, aerospace, and technology company.
The attacks appear to be politically motivated. The Moscow-aligned hacking group NoName057(16) previously claimed responsibility for attacks as part of its “OpSpain” campaign, launched in retaliation for the Spanish government’s military support for Ukraine.
Noname057(16) has been ramping up DDoS attacks against German organizations, likely in reaction to incoming Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s plans to supply Ukraine with Taurus cruise missiles.
DDoS attacks temporarily disrupt access to services. However, they are often considered more of a nuisance and do not cause lasting damage.
While DDoS attacks surged, ransomware activity continued to plateau, with Group-IB observing 93 ransomware incidents across Europe in March, down 4% from the previous month. SafePay and CI0P were responsible for the most attacks.
Users from France, Italy, and Spain also had the most detected compromised corporate accounts in Europe. In total, almost 116 thousand compromised accounts were reported in the region, marking a 19% monthly increase.
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