A new report from Check Point Software Technologies reveals how in late August pro-Russian and Islamist hacker groups attacked French authorities and businesses in protest against the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov.
According to Check Point, the attacks occurred as part of getting Durov released and securing the Telegram platform’s future existence and chat functions.
The cyber security company Check Point Software Technologies has revealed in a new report how primarily pro-Russian and Islamist hacker groups launched hacker attacks against French companies and authorities at the end of August. Under the hashtags #FreeDurov and #OpDurov, the hacker groups tried to put pressure on the authorities to release Telegram founder Pavel Durov.
Durov’s arrest and charge for complicity in, among other things, drug trafficking, child pornography and fraud led to French websites coming under heavy attack. Check Point’s report thus shows that the hacker groups CARR (Cyber Army of Russia Reborn), RipperSec EvilWeb, Cyberdragon, UserSec and Stucx Team exposed more than 50 French websites to DDoS attacks – a so-called overload attack, where many servers or computers attack a website in one time to make it inaccessible – as part of the #FreeDurov and #OpDurov campaigns. The targets were primarily French authorities, airports, banks and news services.
According to Balder Borup, Security Engineer at Check Point Software Technologies in Denmark, there is a very special reason why the groups show support for Pavel Durov:
“The hacker groups are following the case closely because Telegram is absolutely central to their activities. For many hacker groups, Telegram is the preferred communication platform when planning hacker campaigns and recruiting new members. If Telegram’s anonymity and security features are changed, it will therefore hit the hacker groups hard. The hacker groups, of course, fear that Durov will feel pressured by NATO and the European governments to change Telegram’s policies, thereby reducing the anonymity and security that many of these groups depend on. Any change in the platform’s data disclosure policy could have far-reaching consequences for their operations, which of course they want to avoid at all costs.”
Despite Pavel Durov’s release from police custody, the hacking campaign has not yet ended. Several of the hacker groups appear to be in a standby position, ready to resume their attacks should there be any further developments in the case against Pavel Durov or Telegram.
Om Check Point Software Technologies
Check Point Software Technologies (https://www.checkpoint.com) is one of the world’s leading providers of AI-powered cloud-based cybersecurity platforms, protecting more than 100,000 organizations worldwide. Check Point harnesses the power of AI to improve efficiency and accuracy in cybersecurity with the company’s Infinity Platform, which ensures proactive threat prevention and faster response times with one of the industry’s leading detection rates. The comprehensive platform includes technology delivered via the cloud and consists of: Check Point Harmony for securing the user workplace; Check Point CloudGuard for securing clouds; Check Point Quantum for network protection and Check Point Infinity Core Services for security management and services for over 100,000 organizations of all sizes.
Source: it-kanalen.dk
