The pro-Russian hacker group NoName057(16) is as active as ever just three weeks after a major international police operation conducted across twelve countries.
Research by VRT NWS and the Dutch KRO-NCRV Pointer revealed on Friday that after a brief decline, their online activities and attacks have surged again. Since the police action, Belgium has been among the top five targeted nations.
NoName gained notoriety in Belgium when, ahead of the October 2024 municipal elections, they disrupted government websites with DDoS attacks, rendering them offline for five consecutive days.
Between 14 and 17 July, Europol targeted the group as part of "Operation Eastwood," resulting in two arrests, seven arrest warrants, and 24 house searches. “We took offline over 100 servers used by the group for DDoS attacks globally,” stated Europol. Furthermore, more than 1,100 alleged supporters of NoName057(16) have been contacted and warned via encrypted messaging apps by the police.
Despite these efforts, the hackers remain highly active on Telegram and have been linked to recent attacks on various websites in Belgium, including the National Institute for Social Security, the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, and the military intelligence service ADIV.
Europol clarified that “Operation Eastwood was never intended to completely dismantle the NoName057(16) group.” The coordinated law enforcement action aimed to disrupt an attack infrastructure made up of more than 100 computer systems worldwide.
