The EU is experiencing a significant increase in cyberattacks, many from Russian hacker groups

Cyberattacks on European Union (EU) countries have skyrocketed in recent years, especially in recent months. There has been a significant increase since Russia began invading Ukraine in February 2022. In fact, many of these cyber crimes come from Russia. Some have been carried out by groups linked to Vladimir Putin's government.

"The number of hacktivist attacks (against) European infrastructure — threat actors whose main aim is to cause disruption — has doubled from the fourth quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2024. It’s quite a significant increase," said the director of the EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), Juhan Lepassaar, in an interview with the Associated Press.

"This is part of the Russian war of aggression, which they fight physically in Ukraine, but digitally also across Europe," Lepassaar added.

Some EU countries, such as Spain, have already fallen victim to Russian cyberattacks. On July 23 of last year, the same day that the general elections were held, the group NoName057 managed to hack several publicly owned websites, such as that of the Ministry of the Interior. The group’s goal was to make people question the election results.

The ENISA notice comes just days before the European Parliament elections, where EU voters will elect new representatives for the highest legislative body.