As of the time of writing, the UK Royal Family website that was targeted has been restored and is accessible to visitors.
The official website of the UK’s royal family, Royal.uk, was struck by a distributed denial of service attack (DDoS attack) on Sunday, causing the site to go offline for approximately 1.5 hours. The attack took place around 10 a.m. local time.
According to reports, the Royal.uk website was swiftly restored to full functionality following the attack. However, as a precautionary measure, Cloudflare checks were implemented at the time of writing to prevent automated bots and ensure the security of IP addresses attempting to access the site.
According to reports, KillMilk, the leader of the Russian hacking group Killnet, apparently claimed responsibility for the DDoS attack on Telegram Messenger. It’s worth noting that these claims, while attention-grabbing, have yet to be officially verified, as the official KillNet account has remained conspicuously silent regarding the attack. The group’s last communication on Telegram was posted on September 18, 2023, leaving room for speculation.
What Happens in a DDoS Attack?
In a DDoS attack, multiple compromised computers or devices are used to flood a target server or network with an overwhelming amount of traffic. This flood of traffic disrupts the target’s ability to respond to legitimate requests, effectively rendering the target’s online services inaccessible to users.
The goal of a DDoS attack is to overwhelm the target’s resources and cause downtime, inconvenience, or financial losses. It is often used as a tactic by cybercriminals or hacktivists to disrupt websites or online services.
In a comment to Hackread.com, Oseloka Obiora, CTO of London, England-based cybersecurity firm RiverSafe stressed that “Whether you are a prince of pauper, cybercriminals are coming for you and this incident is another reminder of the dangers posed by sophisticated online attacks.”
“Moving forward, organisations of all shapes and sizes need to urgently update their cyber defences, both in terms of skills and software, to prevent malicious hackers from achieving their insidious objectives,” he added.
KillNet has previously gained notoriety for its involvement in a range of high-profile cyberattacks. In one instance, they allegedly hacked into NATO systems and purportedly created fake profiles using stolen NATO login credentials on a gay dating website, raising concerns about the potential misuse of sensitive data.
In December 2022, Killnet exposed a text file containing the login credentials of 10,000 individuals, whom they claimed to be FBI agents. This incident added a new layer of complexity to their notoriety in the world of cyber warfare.
The hacking group is also infamous for its DDoS attacks on Lithuanian websites. These relentless and widespread cyberattacks eventually led the online hacktivist group Anonymous to declare a cyber war against KillNet, emphasizing the scale and impact of their digital operations.
The latest attack on the UK royal family’s website exposes the ever-present threat to online platforms, irrespective of their prominence or the security measures in place.