Three ‘pro-Russian’ hackers arrested in Spain for cyberattacks

MADRID (Reuters) – Three pro-Russian hackers have been arrested for suspected cyberattacks on Spain and other NATO countries for terrorist purposes, Spanish police said on Saturday.

The suspects were arrested for their alleged involvement in distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) cyberattacks on public institutions and strategic sectors, the Guardia Civil said.

It was not said whether the three suspects, whose names were not disclosed, were charged or arrested.

The cyberattacks allegedly targeted websites of public and private organizations in the government sector, critical infrastructure and essential services in countries that support Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, it said.

Police posted a video on social media platform X of a raid on the home of one of the suspects, on whose wall hung a Soviet-era hammer-and-sickle flag.

“These computer attacks were organized by the hacktivist group NoName057(16), which began after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and was one of the most active,” the Guardia Civil said in a statement.

“In its own founding manifesto, this group recognizes that it will ‘respond appropriately to the hostile and openly anti-Russian actions of Western Russophobes.'”

The arrests took place in Manacor on the Spanish Balearic island of Mallorca as well as in Huelva and Seville in southern Spain, police said.

Police said the investigation was still ongoing.

(Reporting by Graham Keeley)