The European Investment Bank (EIB), vital to the EU’s economic plans, recently experienced a major cyber attack, possibly from Russian hackers, that disrupted its online services and websites, believed to be in response to Western support for Ukraine.

A group identified as the Killnet gang had previously announced their intentions via a Telegram post. The statement read, “rebuff the madmen according to the formula ‘no money – no weapons – no Kyiv regime.'” The group is infamous for employing “distributed denial of service” (DDoS) attacks, a tactic that overwhelms a website with excessive traffic, thereby causing it to fail. Despite claims of responsibility circulating, the EIB spokesperson maintained a careful stance, stating it was too early to confirm the responsible party.

Cybersecurity specialists have connected the Killnet gang to potential Russian government affiliations. This group publicly took responsibility for a sequence of DDoS attacks earlier this year, targeting both NATO and the US Air Force’s Strategic Air Command. As a result, these organizations suffered website disruptions, though the critical infrastructure was not compromised due to the insulation of vital systems.

Commenting on the issue, Muhammad Yahya Patel, a security engineer at Check Point Software, stated: “This has been their MO for some time, and I am sure we haven’t seen the last of these attempts. It would be wise for all businesses, but in particular those with public-facing services, to strengthen their defenses to ensure they remain operational.”