Pro-Russian hackers attack website of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan

A pro-Russian cyber group has infiltrated the website of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan during the East Asian country’s general election campaign for the House of Representatives.

The breach was a distributed denial of service, or DDoS, attack Tactic commonly seen among Russian-linked hackers against allies since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kazuhiko Aoki confirmed that the government’s dedicated cyber agencies are currently investigating and have already taken “active” security measures to protect the election period.

“The government is aware of the trends in cyberattacks by hacker groups,” Aoki said specified.

“The National Center of Incident Readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity (NISC) is working with relevant ministries and agencies to quickly and accurately assess the situation and collect information to prevent the damage from spreading.”

“Fair elections are the foundation of democracy. Any actions that undermine fair elections will not be tolerated by any organization, group or individual.”

An “appropriate countermeasure”

Among the actors claiming the latest attack was NoName057(16), which began operations in March 2022.

The group said in a Telegram update that the attack on Japan was an attempt to weaken Japan’s capabilities in response to upcoming military exercises with the US, some of which will take place near the Russian border.

News agency based in Tokyo NHK reported Earlier this month, the Russian Foreign Ministry criticized the event for being “expanded every year.”

“Such measures would entail ‘appropriate countermeasures’ aimed at protecting Russia’s sovereignty and strengthening its defense capabilities,” NoName057(16) said on the messaging service platform.

“Particular dissatisfaction was caused by the participation of non-regional NATO member states in the maneuvers, which Russia believes increases the threat and is unacceptable.”

“We punish Russophobic Japan and remind that any measures directed against Russia can end badly.”