A new report from ENISA, the EU’s cybersecurity agency, highlights that public administration bodies are being increasingly targeted by hacktivists. Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks were the primary weapon, accounting for 60% of all incidents, with central governments (parliaments, ministries) being the most common target (69% of incidents).
Business Impact
These attacks, while often simple, are highly effective at disrupting critical government services, blocking citizen access to essential portals, and creating a sense of chaos and instability, which is the hacktivists’ main goal.
Why It Happened
Pro-Russian and other hacktivist groups are using DDoS as a low-cost, high-visibility tool to protest geopolitical events and target perceived adversaries, with EU government bodies being a prime target.
Recommended Executive Action
Public sector leaders must ensure their digital services are resilient. This includes enrolling critical websites and portals behind a robust Content Delivery Network (CDN) or Web Application Firewall (WAF) with “always-on” DDoS protection, as recommended by ENISA.
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