JAKARTA - Pro-Russian hackers are suspected of having attacked the MI5 public website, which has caused the site to go offline amid Ukraine's current conflict.
A group called Anthonyous Russia claimed responsibility for the blackout on Friday morning, September 30. Web MI5 published a note showing server errors around 9 am local time.
The Security Service website displays a " web site in maintenance" page but works normally within an hour.
A source told The Independent that the website was "not available for a while" but had been restored.
"It has absolutely no impact on organizational work," they added. It's just a site facing the public. There is no threat to security, no secure information is accessed.
MI5 is Britain's domestic intelligence agency, which is responsible for protecting Britain, its citizens, and its interests from threats to national security - including hostile foreign countries and espionage.
A post by the Anthonyous Russia account on the encrypted Telegram messaging app said it had launched a service refusal attack (DDoS) distributed to the web.
This technique involves malicious attempts to disrupt targeted servers, services, or networks using extraordinary internet traffic floods.
The account describes itself as the official Russian faction of the anonymous hacking collective, which has launched a cyberattack against governments and authorities around the world.
The attack came as Russia announced its annexation of four Ukrainian territories after a contested referendum, sparking a diplomatic reaction that had Russian ambassadors summoned by Britain's foreign minister.
The British prime minister even accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of "again" violating international law. "The UK will never ignore the people's sovereign will and we will never accept the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions as anything other than Ukrainian territory," said British Prime Minister Elizabeth Truss.
Putin is not allowed to change international borders using violence. We will ensure he loses this illegal war," Truss added.
In a speech last Friday, the Russian president vowed to remain in his stance. "People living in Luhansk, Donetsk, the Kherson region and the Zaporizhia region will be our compatriots forever. We will defend our land with all our might and all our ways," Putin stressed.
Earlier this year, the Director of GCHQ warned that Russia is now targeting countries supporting Ukraine with cyberattacks.
British officials have not officially linked the error to Friday's incident and analysis is ongoing, but this follows the previous DDoS attack by Russian actors.
The National Cybersecurity Center (NCSC) said Russia's GRU intelligence services were involved in a cyberattack targeting Ukraine's financial sector days before the February invasion.
It began strengthening the British government's defenses in January, in response to the increasing "dangerous cyber incident" in and around Ukraine, and tightening its guidelines for companies and public organizations.
Speaking at a conference in May, GCHQ director Sir Jeremy flow said the conflict was flooded to other countries in the information and online spaces.
"Perhaps, the concept of 'the cyber war' is exaggerated, but there are many cyberspaces that include the various activities we and partners have linked to Russia," he said.
We have seen what appears to be an overflow of activity affecting other countries. And we have seen indications that Russian cyber operations continue to search for targets in countries that oppose their actions," he added.
He did not mention specific countries that could be targeted, but said that security services are increasing efforts to "protect the country's digital homeland" by ensuring the UK government and businesses increase their resilience.
Britain has formed a "National Cyber Force" consisting of intelligence and defense staff aimed at increasing defenses, fighting disinformation, supporting military activities abroad, and supporting police in dealing with criminal gangs.
Sir Jeremy said Britain uses its capabilities " legal, proportional, and ethical ways" and will "oppose those who have no value and our core interests".
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