IPI’s website was knocked offline for three days last September following its report on a wave of DDoS attacks targeting 40 Hungarian media outlets. In June, Russian independent outlets IStories and Verstka were hit by DDoS attacks shortly after publishing an investigation into a child sex trafficking ring allegedly involving oligarchs and other influential figures. Last October, Novaya Gazeta Europe, another independent Russian media organization, faced a wave of large-scale DDoS attacks. According to Hungary’s National Bureau of Investigation, the man allegedly used DDoS-for-hire services and a range of online tools to orchestrate the attacks under the alias “Hano.” Police have not released the suspect’s name, and he has not been formally charged. Hungarian police have arrested a man suspected of carrying out a prolonged series of cyberattacks against independent media outlets in Hungary and abroad, authorities said on Monday. The 23-year-old suspect from Budapest is accused of launching distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that disrupted access to at least half a dozen Hungarian news sites beginning in April 2023. The attacks also temporarily took down the website of the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI) in September last year, shortly after the organization published a report detailing similar incidents. The IPI welcomed news of the arrest, calling for a full and transparent investigation into the motive and potential external backing of the attacks. Most of the affected outlets were critical of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government, while pro-government media remained untouched, IPI said. Media outlets are frequent targets of cyberattacks, including those driven by political motives. An investigator with Hungary's National Bureau of Investigation participates in a raid at a hacking suspect's residence in July 2025. An independent investigation by the Swedish nonprofit Qurium later confirmed that the IPI attack was likely retaliation for its advocacy work.
This Cyber News was published on therecord.media. Publication date: Tue, 22 Jul 2025 12:05:19 +0000