Europol says it disrupted a major pro-Russian DDoS crime gang

• A joint operation has disrupted a major pro-Russian DDoS network
• Operation Eastwood saw 2 suspects arrested and over 100 servers affected
• Major infrastructure related to the group was taken offline

A joint international operation carried out by law enforcement agencies from France, Spain, Sweden, Poland, and others, has disrupted a major pro-Russian cybercrime network NoName057(16). Operation Eastwood, supported by Europol and Eurojust, saw 12 countries take simultaneous actions against offenders and infrastructure belonging to the criminal network.

As a result of the operations, 2 suspects were arrested, 7 arrest warrants were issued, 24 houses were searched, 100 servers were disrupted, over 1,000 supporters were notified of their legal liability, and major parts of the NoName057(16) main infrastructure were taken offline.

The criminal network unsurprisingly primarily attacked targets in Ukraine, but had recently shifted its focus to Ukraine’s allies in the Russia/Ukraine war, many of which are NATO members.

NoName057(16)

The group is allegedly responsible for distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks across Europe against organizations and critical infrastructure including banks, defense firms, transportation firms, government agencies, and energy suppliers.

“National authorities have reported a number of cyberattacks linked to NoName057(16) criminal activities. In 2023 and 2024, the criminal network has taken part in attacks against Swedish authorities and bank websites. Since investigations started in November 2023, Germany saw 14 separate waves of attacks targeting more than 250 companies and institutions” Europol confirms in a statement.

Criminal cybernetworks like these are a bit of a cat and mouse game for law enforcement, which is illustrated by the fairly regular major disruptions to criminal networks, which may temporarily subdue the attacks in one area, but barely make a dent in the number of overall attacks or offensives.

Earlier in 2025, Europol arrested 17 suspects and seized millions from a criminal banking network which allegedly provided money laundering services to criminals and evaded law enforcement by using cryptocurrency and a structured underground financial system.

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