The pro-Russian hacker group Killnet launched a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack on NATO websites, including the NATO Special Operations Headquarters (NSHQ) website
The attack was confirmed by NATO, while the hacker group announced the attack on its Telegram channel in the following message.
“NATO cyber experts are actively dealing with an incident affecting several NATO sites. NATO deals with cyber incidents on a regular basis, and takes cyber security very seriously,” a NATO statement said.
“We are conducting shutdowns in NATO. Details in a closed channel,” reads a message posted by a pro-Russian group on its Telegram channel.
According to The Telegraph, the website of NATO’s Special Operations Headquarters remained inaccessible for several hours. The attack also affected the website of the Strategic Airlift Capability, which is a multinational initiative that provides participating nations with secure access to military aircraft.
The “Telegraph” reported that the DDoS attack affected the NATO NR network that communicated with the SAC C-17 aircraft.
“One of the organization’s C-17s, apparently flying supplies to Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, was alerted to the disruption by a message from the SAC director via the ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System) network.” The “Telegraph” report. “The aircraft was told that NATO’s NR network – believed to be used to transmit sensitive data – had been hit by a denial of service attack. Although the connection with the plane was not lost, it is likely that the hacker attack interfered with the aid efforts.”