Oct 5 — A computer “Hacktivist” group known as Killnet announced that it intends to launch a series of cyber attacks on a number of US government websites. Experts state that the actions are in response to escalating geopolitical tensions.

In Telegram post, the hacktivists listed several US government websites that it aims to target across the next few days. The accompanying imagery depicted a nuclear explosion, the Statue of Liberty and included explicit language.

More information

According to the post, targets include the governmental websites of Alabama, Alaska, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky and Mississippi, along with the site operated by the Internal Revenue Service.

Current disruptions

As of Wednesday morning, several of those sites had already experienced cyber disruption. Some returned to normal functionality by early afternoon. However, at least one such site was still down as of mid-day ET on Wednesday.

Future disruptions

If perpetrated, the attacks would be among several that have affected government institutions this year. These hacktivists have also targeted the Lithuanian government via a combination of Denial of Service and Distributed Denial of Service attacks, which aim to overwhelm computer serves with requests that collectively crash systems.

Hacktivist challenges

The Killnet group’s behavior is unpredictable. Last week, the group announced a suspension of its attacks on the Japanese government, saying that the “Japanese people do not have to worry anymore.”

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