Germany Accuses Russian Hacker, Killnet, Performing DDoS Attacks On Several Government Websites

Russian hacker activists have taken several German websites offline

JAKARTA – Russian hacker activists have taken several German websites offline on Wednesday 25 January. This they did in response to Berlin's recent decision to send tanks to Ukraine. But the German cyber agency, BSI, said the digital attack had a little real effect.

Germany said last Wednesday it would supply Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks, to address doubts about the delivery of heavy weapons that Kiev said were essential to defeating a Russian invasion. But Moscow regards the decision as a dangerous provocation.

Hacking group Killnet said it targeted German government websites, banks, and airports with a coordinated distribute denial-of-service (DDoS) campaign. While this is not a relatively sophisticated attack that only works by directing high volumes of internet traffic to targeted servers it can take the web offline.

"Currently, some websites are unavailable. There is currently no indication of an immediate impact on any individual services and, in BSI's assessment, this is not to be expected if the usual protective measures were in place," BSI said in a statement, quoted by Reuters. "Several financial sector targets were also affected".

Killnet is a self-proclaimed Russian "hacking" group that actively targets opponents who oppose Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In June 2022, the group claimed responsibility for a DDoS attack against the Lithuanian government after the Baltic state blocked the flow of goods to the Russian territory of Kaliningrad.

US cybersecurity firm Mandiant also previously reported that Killnet is linked to another Russian hacker group, Xaknet, which claims to have terrorized Ukrainian organizations online.

"Xaknet is likely connected to Russian intelligence services," Mandiant said.

Western officials accuse the Russian government of being a global leader in hacking and using cyber espionage against foreign governments and industries to seek a competitive advantage. However, Moscow has consistently denied carrying out hacking operations.

"We don't know what (Killnet) is. We honestly wonder why there is a hacker group associated with Russia and not with another European country," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters at a press briefing last Wednesday.