European intelligence agencies now devote as much attention to investigating Russian interference as they do to counterterrorism, reflecting the growing scale and impact of hybrid threats across the continent. The warning comes as France reels from a cyberattack that disrupted its national postal service during the critical Christmas period.
Postal Service Crippled by Pro-Russian Hackers
French prosecutors said on Wednesday that the pro-Russian hacking group Noname057(16) claimed responsibility for the attack on La Poste. The domestic intelligence agency DGSI quickly took over the investigation, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office. La Poste’s central computer systems went offline on Monday in a distributed denial-of-service attack that had not been resolved by Wednesday morning. Postal workers could not track deliveries, and online payments at La Banque Postale, the company’s banking arm, were also disrupted. The attack struck at the busiest time of year for La Poste, which employs more than 200,000 people.
A Known Threat Across Europe
Noname057(16) has a long history of targeting Ukrainian media outlets and government and corporate websites in countries including Poland, Sweden, and Germany. The group became a focus of Operation Eastwood, a coordinated international police effort in July involving authorities from 12 countries. That operation dismantled more than 100 servers, led to arrests in France and Spain, and generated seven arrest warrants, six of them for Russian nationals. Despite the crackdown, the group resumed its operations within days and has remained active, previously attacking French government sites such as the Ministry of Justice and multiple prefectures and cities.
Recent Incidents Highlight Growing Cyber Risk
The La Poste attack came just days after France disclosed a separate cyber intrusion affecting the Interior Ministry, which oversees national security. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told Franceinfo that a suspected hacker accessed police records, wanted individuals’ information, and extracted several dozen sensitive documents. Prosecutors also confirmed that France’s counterintelligence agency is investigating a suspected plot involving software that could have allowed remote control of computer systems on an international passenger ferry, with a Latvian crew member detained on charges of acting for an unidentified foreign power.
Russia’s Shadow in Europe
While no official attribution has been made, Nunez strongly suggested Russian involvement, saying “foreign interference very often comes from same country.” France and its European allies assert that Russia is conducting a campaign of “hybrid warfare,” using sabotage, cyberattacks, assassinations, and disinformation to destabilize Western societies and erode support for Ukraine. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Western officials have linked numerous incidents to Moscow, including arson attacks on warehouses, railway sabotage, and widespread vandalism. European intelligence agencies now report that tracking these acts of interference consumes resources on par with fighting terrorism, signaling the increasing prominence of cyber and sabotage threats in Europe’s security landscape.
