Flexinet

Summary

A hacktivist group conducted distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against multiple Spanish entities, including Flexinet, as part of a coordinated campaign promoting Catalan independence. The attacks disrupted web services, email systems, and internet access for targeted organizations, with some outages lasting over 16 hours before most services were restored. This activity formed part of a broader 24-hour operation announced under the banners #OpCatalunya and #FreeCatalunya, which had previously targeted government databases and police systems. National security authorities had issued warnings about the planned cyberattacks following prior incidents linked to the same hacktivist collective.

Motives

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TTPs

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Description

On October 21, 2017, the hacktivist group Anonymous executed coordinated distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against multiple Spanish entities, including technology provider Flexinet. The attacks commenced around 2:00 AM local time, rendering the Constitutional Court’s website, email systems, and other internet services inaccessible. Flexinet, alongside political party PP, Francisco Franco Foundation, Banca March, and tech firm Telitec, was confirmed among the targeted organizations. Anonymous publicly claimed responsibility through their Twitter account NamaTikure, framing the attacks under the #OpCatalunya and #FreeCatalunya campaigns aimed at supporting Catalan independence efforts. Spain’s Department of National Security had issued a warning the previous day about impending cyberattacks following weeks of escalating activity under these banners.

By 6:30 PM on the same day, most affected websites—including Flexinet’s—resumed normal operations, though the Constitutional Court’s systems remained offline at that time. The DDoS campaign formed part of a broader 24-hour operation that included prior attacks against Spanish National Police and government databases. Anonymous had initiated #OpCatalunya on September 24, 2017, with a manifesto video demanding Catalan self-determination. No technical specifics regarding Flexinet’s service disruptions or recovery actions were disclosed in available reports. The incident highlighted Anonymous’ sustained focus on Spanish institutions during the political crisis, with national security authorities monitoring but not publicly detailing countermeasures against the attacks.

Sources

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