Holy League Hackers Target UK Agencies, MI6; Oracle Admits Cloud Data Breach
An alliance of pro-Russian and pro-Palestinian hackers, known as the Holy League, has been launching weekly cyberattacks against British organizations and state agencies, including the armed forces, security services, infrastructure operators, councils, and the MI6 website. These attacks are primarily distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) strikes, which disrupt websites and online services by overwhelming them with traffic. The group includes members trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and hackers aligned with Russian intelligence, such as NoName057(16).
The Holy League, comprising about 90 hacktivist groups, is united by opposition to Western values and has targeted critical national infrastructure and agencies such as the British Army, Royal Navy, and the Office for Nuclear Security. Analysts attribute the increased attacks to the UK's leadership role in supporting Ukraine. The coalition has also claimed responsibility for attacks on European intelligence services and UK infrastructure, including a wave of strikes in retaliation for Ukraine's use of British Storm Shadow missiles.
Separately, Oracle Corp. has confirmed a data breach affecting its cloud services, following initial denials. A hacker, reportedly using the alias 'rose87168,' claimed to have accessed six million records, including usernames, encrypted credentials, and security keys, and attempted to extort $20 million from Oracle. The breach involved an eight-year-old server, though some stolen login data was reportedly more recent. Oracle is facing a lawsuit in Texas over the incident, which has prompted investigations by the FBI and cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, as well as precautionary reviews by organizations using Oracle Cloud services, including Hong Kong government departments.
In response to rising cyberattacks, the UK government has introduced a Cyber Governance Code of Practice for medium and large businesses. The code outlines five key pillars: risk management, strategy, people, incident planning and recovery, and assurance and oversight. It aims to address the nearly £22 billion in economic losses caused by cyberattacks over four years. Supported by the National Cyber Security Centre and industry leaders, the initiative seeks to improve cyber-risk governance and resilience across the UK.
Written with ChatGPT (GPT-4o).
Feryal Clark MP
ComputerWeekly
GB News
