European intelligence agencies say probes into suspected Russian interference now consume as much time and resources as investigations into terrorist threats, underscoring the scale of what officials increasingly describe as a sustained campaign of hybrid warfare across the continent.
Postal Service Hit in Christmas Cyberattack
French prosecutors said Wednesday that a pro-Russian hacking group, Noname057(16), claimed responsibility for a cyberattack that disrupted France’s national postal service at the height of the Christmas rush. Following the claim, the domestic intelligence agency DGSI assumed control of the investigation, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office. La Poste’s central computer systems were knocked offline on Monday by a distributed denial-of-service attack that remained unresolved by Wednesday morning, preventing postal workers from tracking package deliveries and disrupting online payments at La Banque Postale, the group’s banking arm. The timing magnified the impact, as the attack struck during La Poste’s busiest season; the company employs more than 200,000 people nationwide.
A Familiar Actor With a Broad European Footprint
Noname057(16) is not a new threat to European authorities. The group has previously targeted Ukrainian media outlets as well as government and corporate websites in Poland, Sweden, Germany and France, including attacks on the Ministry of Justice and several prefectures and municipalities. In July, it became a focus of Operation Eastwood, a coordinated international police effort involving authorities from 12 countries. That operation dismantled more than 100 servers worldwide, led to two arrests in France and Spain, and resulted in seven arrest warrants, six of them issued for Russian nationals. Despite the crackdown, the group resumed operations within days and has remained active.
Rising Concerns Over Broader Sabotage Campaigns
The postal service disruption followed closely on another major cyber incident disclosed by the French government, which said an attack had affected the Interior Ministry, the body responsible for national security. In that case, a suspected hacker extracted several dozen sensitive documents and accessed information related to police records and wanted individuals, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told Franceinfo. Separately, prosecutors last week said France’s counterintelligence service is investigating a suspected cyberattack plot involving software that could have enabled remote control of computer systems aboard an international passenger ferry. A Latvian crew member is being held on suspicion of acting on behalf of an unidentified foreign power.
Russia’s Shadow Over Europe’s Security Landscape
While officials have stopped short of formal attribution in these cases, Nunez strongly suggested a familiar source of the threat, saying “foreign interference very often comes from same country.” France and other European allies of Ukraine accuse Russia of waging a campaign of hybrid warfare that blends sabotage, assassinations, cyberattacks and disinformation to sow division within Western societies and erode support for Kyiv. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Western officials have attributed scores of incidents across Europe to Moscow, ranging from arson attacks on warehouses to railway sabotage and widespread vandalism. European intelligence agencies now say the cumulative effect is clear: investigations into suspected Russian interference occupy as much attention as traditional counterterrorism work, marking a fundamental shift in Europe’s internal security priorities.
