On Wednesday, Europol and Eurojust announced the successful dismantling of the hacker group NoName057(16), which has been linked to various cybercrimes against Ukraine and its allies. This group, notorious for its attacks on critical infrastructure in Europe, was taken down as part of an operation dubbed "Eastwood."

According to reports from Ukrinform, a botnet comprising hundreds of compromised computers worldwide was effectively shut down on July 15. The operation led to the identification of several suspects, including key figures residing in the Russian Federation.

It was emphasized that NoName057(16) has shown support for Russia since the onset of its aggressive campaign against Ukraine. Law enforcement agencies from twelve countries, including the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, and others, participated in this operation. The coordinated efforts resulted in the arrest of two individuals, one in France and another in Spain.

German authorities issued six arrest warrants for suspects living in Russia. Two of these individuals are accused of being the main organizers of NoName057(16). In total, seven arrest warrants were issued for six Russian nationals, who, according to European agencies, are responsible for numerous attacks on critical infrastructure, such as power suppliers and government institutions.

Additionally, twenty-four searches were conducted at the group’s affiliates, including one in France, where a significant amount of evidence was seized and is currently being analyzed. The hackers employed DDoS attacks, intentionally overloading websites and applications to render them inaccessible.

The group executed several attacks on critical infrastructure during politically significant events, notably in Germany, where they conducted 14 assaults affecting around 230 organizations, including government entities and manufacturing plants.

Attacks also occurred across Europe during European elections, particularly in Sweden, where government and banking websites were targeted, as well as during the video address of the President of Ukraine to the European Parliament in June 2023.

By the end of 2024, the hacker group had also claimed responsibility for cyberattacks on websites of several French cities, and recent reports indicate that the Netherlands became a target for hackers during the NATO summit in late June.