Pro-Russian hackers hit Romanian government websites on election day

Techrider.ro and Politico reported the information.

The hackers said on their Telegram channel that they managed to "send DDoS surprises" to the websites of Romania's Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Justice.

The attack also hit the websites of the Constitutional Court, the main government portal, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Hackers targeted the websites of four presidential candidates too, including Crin Antonescu and Bucharest Mayor Nicușor Dan.

On the morning of May 4, the sites were inaccessible to users. Romania’s National Cybersecurity Directorate said the websites named by the hacker group were back online by 2:00 p.m. local time.

Reference: NoName057(16) is a pro-Russian hacker group behind several cyberattacks on government websites, media outlets, and private companies in Ukraine, the U.S., and across Europe. The group acts as a loose network of digital activists aiming to draw attention and push a pro-Kremlin agenda in the West.

• On May 4, Romania held a repeat presidential election after the previous results were annulled. In that earlier vote, pro-Russian candidate Călin Georgescu had won. With 99.99% of the votes now counted in the first round, George Simion is leading with 40.94%.