This is not the first time that pro-Russian hackers have attacked French websites. This time, it is the site of the University Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis that has been targeted. According to BFMTV, which notes the information, these hackers displayed at midday the words: "Long live Russia and France, fuck Ukraine". This Sunday at 15 pm, the site was still inaccessible and a message indicated: "The site of the University of Paris 8 is under maintenance".
In early May, the Senate's website was also blocked. An attack claimed by the collective of pro-Russian hackers NoName, which had already attacked that of the National Assembly in March. "This is obviously a denial-of-service attack, overwhelming the site with requests," said cybersecurity expert Nicolas Hernandez, president of Aleph Networks.
"We have read in the press that France is working with Ukraine on a new aid plan that may include weapons, as well as statements by Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna" and "we have blocked the website of the French Senate," NoName wrote in its claim. At the end of March, the Assembly's website was blocked for several hours by an attack claimed by the same collective, for the same reason.
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NoName, created in March 2022, is one of some 80 collectives of pro-Russian hackers who are attacking institutions in countries that support Ukraine, especially Western European countries, Nicolas Quintin, chief analyst of Thales' threat analysis team, which brings together some fifty experts around the world, said at the end of March.
"Respect Russia! Otherwise we will continue to wage war on you."
The France, one of their regular targets, has seen several such attacks in recent months. On Wednesday, the websites of several French town halls were also attacked by Russian "hacktivists". The hackers targeted the Nîmes-based IT services company Abtel, which hosts the site of several town halls, including Bry-sur-Marne (Val-de-Marne), Juziers in Yvelines and Ambérieu-en-Bugey in Ain.
The hackers broadcast in Cyrillic on the Bry-sur-Marne site "pro-Russian propaganda messages, namely Respect Russia! Otherwise we will continue to make war on you, "detailed the prefecture of Val-de-Marne.
