Laptop seized by the Guardia Civil in Mallorca

Various items of computer equipment were seized. | Guardia Civil

Andrew EdePalma20/07/2024 15:10
TW
2

The Guardia Civil in Mallorca have arrested an alleged member of a pro-Russian hacktivist group, NoName057(16), that was established following the start of the war in Ukraine.

The arrest in Manacor was one of three in Spain; the other two were in Andalusia (Huelva and Seville). They were arrested for participation in cyberattacks against public institutions and strategic companies in NATO countries. Computer equipment and "documents of interest" were seized during searches of their homes.

Investigations into these three individuals were coordinated by the Prosecutor’s Office of the Computer Crime Division and the Prosecutor’s Office at the Audiencia Nacional high court, where preliminary proceedings leading to the arrests were initiated. The Guardia Civil are pursuing several other lines of investigation in identifying those involved in cyberattacks on countries that support Ukraine.

The NoName057(16) manifesto threatens "to respond proportionately to the hostile and openly anti-Russian actions of western Russophobes".