The official website of the UK royal family experienced a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on Sunday, Oct. 1, orchestrated by pro-Russian hacktivists. The attack, which lasted for approximately 90 minutes, caused the royal.uk website to go offline temporarily. Currently, visitors to the site are being vetted by a Cloudflare security check before gaining access to the homepage.
KillNet, a Russian threat actor, claimed responsibility for the attack. Killmilk, the founder of KillNet, referred to it as an “attack on pedophiles” in a post on the messaging app Telegram. However, security experts have not independently verified KillNet’s claim.
This is not the first time KillNet has been involved in such activities in the name of Russian nationalism. The group has a history of carrying out less damaging DDoS attacks against public and private organizations in Ukraine and NATO member countries to draw attention to their political cause. Their goal is to shift popular support in favor of Russia during the Russia/Ukraine conflict.
The timing of the attack is significant, as it occurred just 10 days after King Charles spoke out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine during a visit to the Palais du Luxembourg, home of the French senate. This attack can be seen as an attempt by KillNet to respond to King Charles’ condemnation and potentially influence public opinion.
The incident highlights the need for organizations to enhance their cybersecurity measures, especially against DDoS attacks. The UK National Cyber Security Center issued a warning in April about the activities of Russian state-aligned threat actors in Britain. These groups are known to engage in DDoS attacks, website defacements, and the spread of misinformation. There is a concern that they may aim for a more disruptive and destructive impact on critical national infrastructure in Western countries.
Eli Nussbaum, the Managing Director at Conversant Group, explains that protecting against DDoS attacks requires safeguarding Domain Name Servers (DNS) and the actual workloads of a system. Ensuring that systems are scalable to handle increased loads can also mitigate the impact of an attack. Organizations can opt for DNS-based DDoS protection services as a first step in defending against these types of attacks.
While DDoS attacks are generally not as crippling as ransomware attacks, the targeting of the royal family’s website carries a significant symbolic weight due to their high visibility. It serves as a strong statement by the hackers that nobody is immune to their reach and power.
As of now, further investigation is required to verify KillNet’s involvement in the attack on the UK royal family’s website. The incident serves as a reminder for organizations worldwide to remain vigilant against cyber threats and prioritize cybersecurity measures to safeguard their valuable digital assets.