Anonymous Sudan: Unleashing Cyber Chaos with Massive DDoS Attacks in June and July 2023
Anonymous Sudan is a hacktivist group that has run large DDoS attacks since January 2023. In June and July 2023 it targeted Microsoft, the SWIFT payment system, Riot Games and other US platforms. Microsoft tracks the group as Storm-1359. The post below says its link to Sudan is doubtful and points to possible ties to the pro-Russian group Killnet. For an earlier national-scale DDoS case, see the nationwide DDoS attacks on the .tr domain.
In June and July 2023, Anonymous Sudan shook the cyber world with a series of powerful DDoS attacks, significantly impacting various industries and online platforms, including Microsoft, SWIFT, and Riot Games.
Since January 2023, the hacktivist group Anonymous Sudan, or Storm-1359, has been grabbing global attention. With their infamous Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, they’ve disrupted critical infrastructure and diverse industries across the globe, reaching countries such as Denmark, the UAE, the US, Australia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Israel, Germany, France, Kenya, and Iran. From financial services to aviation, education, healthcare, software, and government entities, their operations have left a significant impact.
Despite the name, the group’s connection to Sudan or to the earlier Anonymous collective was in doubt at the time of writing. Recent findings indicate a concerning affiliation between Anonymous Sudan and the pro-Russian hacktivist collective, Killnet. There are strong indications that the group might be state-sponsored Russian actors adopting the facade of Sudanese actors with religious motives, possibly to obscure their actions against Western targets. While the hacktivist group predominantly operates in English and Russian, their recent posts in Arabic appear to make cultural and nationalistic references to Sudan. Nevertheless, the timing of their first Arabic post coincided with security researchers questioning the group’s true ideological affiliations, raising doubts about their true motivations and origins.
- Also called.
- Storm-1359.
- Active since.
- January 2023.
- Type.
- Hacktivist group, DDoS attacks.
- Languages.
- Mainly English and Russian, some Arabic.
- Possible links.
- Killnet; believed by some to be state-sponsored Russian actors.
- Sectors hit.
- Financial services, aviation, education, healthcare, software, government.
What attacks did Anonymous Sudan carry out in 2023?
We warned you! A week ago! #Microsoft claimed that #DDoS attacks caused disruptions and remarked on the threat actors as Storm-1359 in the blog post about the attack. Storm-1359 calls themselves “#AnonymousSudan“#cybersecurity Brandefense on Twitter
— BRANDEFENSE | Digital Risk Protection Service (@Brandefense) June 19, 2023
🔥🌐 Anonymous Sudan & KillNet launch DDoS attacks on 🇫🇷🇧🇾 Airports & hospitals. One target, annecy-airport.com, experienced a brief outage as proof of the attack. We’re sorry to hear of these incidents. Stay vigilant, #security pros!💻🛡️ #DarkWeb #CyberSecurity #DDoSAttack. pic.twitter.com/yS64XYmJxg
— BRANDEFENSE | Digital Risk Protection Service (@Brandefense) March 22, 2023
Details of Attacks
How did Anonymous Sudan attack Microsoft and SWIFT?
In June 2023, Anonymous Sudan targeted Microsoft with a massive DDoS attack, causing significant disruptions and outages across various Microsoft services, including Azure, Outlook, and OneDrive.
The group launched multiple Layer 7 DDoS attacks against the tech giant to exhaust system resources with high loads of SSL/TLS handshakes and processing HTTP(S) requests. Although Microsoft confirmed the service disruptions, the company stated that no customer data had been accessed or compromised.
- Layer 7 DDoS attacksMany SSL/TLS handshakes and HTTP(S) requestsTechnique T1499.003 (MITRE ATT&CK, opens in a new tab)
- System resources exhaustedLoad builds until services struggle
- Services disruptedAzure, Outlook and OneDrive affected
- Microsoft statementNo customer data accessed or compromised
Following their success in targeting Microsoft, in mid-June, Anonymous Sudan aimed at a new and significant target – the SWIFT payment system.
The group announced its intentions on its official Telegram channel, stating plans to launch a “massive attack” on European and US financial institutions in collaboration with the pro-Russian hacktivist collective Killnet and the infamous Russian cybercriminal group REvil. The motivation behind this attack was to protest against what they perceived as the West’s financial and military support of Ukraine.
Taking on US Companies: Riot Games and More
Making a daring decision, Anonymous Sudan also declared war against the US companies by citing America’s attitude towards Sudan. The group launched a DDoS attack against Riot Games, a renowned video game developer, and publisher famous for its multiplayer online battle arena game, League of Legends.
The hacktivist group announced the attack on their Telegram channel, boasting that it lasted between 30 minutes to one hour.
Anonymous Sudan continued its distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against the US companies, targeting several prominent online platforms and services, including Tumblr, Flickr, Reddit, Archive of Our Own (AO3), Coinbase, Wattpad, 4chan, iFunny, Lyft, UPS, and OnlyFans. These platforms are widely used by millions of users globally, making them attractive targets for hacktivist groups seeking to gain attention and spread their message.
- January 2023Group starts drawing global attentionDistributed denial of service attacks begin.
- June 2023Microsoft DDoS attackDisruption to Azure, Outlook and OneDrive.
- Mid-June 2023SWIFT payment systemPlans announced on Telegram for a massive attack on European and US financial institutions.
- June and July 2023US platformsRiot Games, Tumblr, Reddit, Coinbase and others targeted.
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