OpAfrica

Abstract

The hacktivist group Anonymous is back, this time fighting corruption across the continent of Africa. #OpAfrica is an operation run by several hacktivists within Anonymous who are focused on targeting corporations and government that "enable and perpetuate corruption on the African continent".ⁱ

Background

The operation is targeting corruption across the continent of Africa, including corporations and governments that are believed to be involved with or responsible for child abuse and labor. They are also targeting those involved with internet censorship and corruption across Africa. This operation is being run in parallel to OpNigeria and OpSouthAfrica, in hopes of freeing the continent of child exploitation and corruption. Like in many recent campaigns, perpetrators are using multiple attack vectors and techniques such as SQL injection and cross site scripting with volumetric network floods.

Phases of the Operation

Public awareness
Intelligence gathering on Government sites
Trolling
DDoS attacks
Leaks and data dumps.

Communication

Chat
irc.cyberguerrilla.org Port 6697
webchat.cyberguerrilla.org
Channels
#Hack_Africa #OpSouthAfrica
Video
https://vimeo.com/153705229
Twitter
@opsouthafricaof

Recently Targeted

Parliament of Malawi Defacedⁱⁱ
Anonymous Hacks Rwanda Government IT Company (BSC.rw)ⁱⁱⁱ
Anonymous Hacks vreport.co.za^iv
South African Government Communication and Information System^v
South African Government Department of Water Affairs^vi
Tanzania Telecommunication Company LTD^vii

Reasons for Concern

As a result of OpAfrica, a number of organizations and government sites have and are currently experiencing SQL injections, data dumps and service outages cause by DoS attacks. The operation is expected to continue and a new group of targets will be added to the list. Those directly or indirectly related to the governments listed as targets could experience defacements and DoS attacks followed by data dumps.

First Target List

Rwanda Government
Uganda Government
South Africa Government
Zimbabwe Government
Tanzania Government
Sudan and South Sudan Government
Ethiopia Government

How to Prepare

We recommend that organizations proactively prepare by taking the following steps:

Inspect networks while looking for web and network vulnerabilities and patch systems accordingly in a timely manner
Tune existing policies and protections to prevent false positives
Allow identification of real threats if and when they occur
Make sure to have all security solutions in place to protect from web and network based attacks

Organizations Under Attack Should Consider

A security solution that can protect its infrastructure from multi-vector attacks including protection from network and application-based DDoS attacks as well as volumetric attacks that can saturate the Internet pipe
A hybrid solution that includes on premise detection and mitigation with cloud-based protection for volumetric attacks. This provides quick detection, immediate mitigation and protects networks from volumetric attacks that aim to saturate the Internet pipe.
A solution that protects against sophisticated web-based attacks and website intrusions to prevent defacement and information theft.
A cyber-security emergency plan that includes an emergency response team and process in place. Identify areas where help is needed from a third party.
Automated solution that recognizes malicious patterns in real time, develops signatures and updates all security controls.
Monitor security alerts and examine triggers carefully. Configure protections to prevent false positives and allow identification of real threats once occur.

Under Attack and in Need of Expert Emergency Assistance?

Radware offers a full range of solutions to help networks properly mitigate attacks similar to these. Our DDoS mitigation solutions provide a set of patented and integrated technologies designed to detect, mitigate and report todays most advanced DDoS attacks and cyber threats. With dedicated hardware, fully managed services and cloud solutions for DDoS protection, Radware can help ensure service availability. To understand how Radware's attack mitigation solutions can better protect your network contact us today.