Santa Barbara Systems, a subsidiary of General Dynamics, based in Spain, which fixes tanks for delivery to Ukraine, has been hit by a cyberattack by Russian hackers.
Russian hackers NoName claimed responsibility for the attack, which disrupted the company's website.
A General Dynamics spokesman in Germany said the defense contractor was still analyzing the cause of the website outage, adding that all activities in Europe were running normally.
See also: Russian hackers APT28 target Europe with HeadLace malware
The NoName group told Telegram that the paralysis of the Santa Barbara Systems site was due to a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack.
A DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack is a form of cyberattack that aims to disrupt the services of a system or website, making it inaccessible to users. In essence, this attack causes an overload of the system's resources , making it unable to respond to user requests. Attackers in a DDoS attack typically use a network, known as a botnet, consisting of many computers. The attacker uses these computers to send a large volume of requests to the system they wish to “hit”.
These attacks are typically used by politically motivated, including hacktivists and state hackers, with government websites frequently targeted.
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“We sent our DDoS missiles against websites in Russophobic Spain,” wrote the group, which has carried out several such actions against countries supporting Ukraine.
NATO said last month that Russia is behind an escalating campaign of hybrid attacks on companies and infrastructure in member states. Russia, for its part, has said those accusations are “ disinformation .”
Santa Barbara assembles heavy vehicles, such as Leopard tanks and artillery equipment for the Spanish army and has been involved in the remanufacturing of tanks for delivery to the Ukrainian army, according to the Defense Ministry.
See also: Poland: Russian hackers APT28 target government networks
Cyberattacks have become a significant threat to national security and can target anyone from individuals to large corporations. In recent years, there has been an increase in cyberattacks against defense companies, aimed at stealing sensitive information or disrupting their operations.
In the case of Santa Barbara Systems, the site was down, but cyberattacks on defense companies can also disrupt the production and delivery of critical military equipment, leading to delays or even cancellation of contracts. This not only affects the company's revenue but also has national security implications as it can delay or weaken a country's defense capabilities.
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To mitigate these risks, it is important for defense companies to have measures cybersecurityin place. This includes regular security updates, training employees about phishing and other cyber threats, and implementing strong data encryption protocols.
Source: www.reuters.com
