On Monday, the Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ) in Brazil was hit by a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, yet the court’s systems continued to function thanks to robust security measures. Although visitors to the STJ website encountered an access error initially, the issue was swiftly resolved, and the institution’s services remain largely operational despite intermittent slowdowns.
Security Measures and Incident Response
According to a statement from the STJ press office, all attempted breaches were successfully thwarted by the court’s protection tools.
“To deal with the situation, as is our standard procedure, we activated mechanisms such as human user access validation, which may cause some slowdown but does not compromise the functionality of the portal or its services,”
– Official Statement from STJ
While the attack did cause temporary instability, the court’s security protocols ensured that no critical systems were taken offline.
The Hacker Behind the Attack
Multiple anonymous hackers took to social media to claim responsibility following the incident. However, the attack’s likely mastermind appears to be a hacker operating under the codename Azael. In a message sent to cybersecurity news outlet CISO Advisor, Azael described the incident as a “denial-of-service attack with 10 million connections per second.” The hacker had reportedly warned as early as Sunday that an offensive against the STJ was imminent, and his track record includes activist cyber attacks against universities involved in sexual harassment cases and various government institutions.
Azael’s notoriety extends beyond national borders. In July 2024, he reportedly joined forces with the Anonymous group to target Venezuelan government agencies. In a further alarming note, the hacker hinted at an upcoming attack against the Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF) later in the week.
Understanding DDoS Attacks
DDoS attacks, short for Distributed Denial of Service, overwhelm online systems by bombarding them with massive volumes of simultaneous requests. This tactic forces a website or online service to exceed its capacity, rendering it slow or completely unresponsive. Unlike cyber intrusions aimed at stealing data or demanding ransom, these attacks are typically employed as a form of protest or to signal political discontent by disrupting access to public services.
A Widespread Problem in Brazil
As the largest, richest and most populous country in Latin America, Brazil has been grappling with cyber attacks for several years. A study by NETSCOUT identified Brazil as the second most targeted country globally for DDoS attacks, and the leading nation in Latin America. In the first half of 2023 alone, the country experienced over 320,000 cyber attacks. These assaults are not confined to high-profile institutions; they also target cloud service providers such as Google and Amazon Web Services, which support a range of businesses and governmental operations.
Recent events underscore the growing trend of politically motivated cyber activities. In February, another hacker known as UndefinedBrazil claimed to have extracted data on 45 million individuals from the São Paulo government after discovering a critical system flaw. Despite notifying the authorities about the vulnerability, his concerns were reportedly disregarded, prompting him to publicize the breach as evidence of systemic negligence.
Looking Ahead
While the STJ incident did not disrupt judicial operations permanently, it adds to a growing list of cyber challenges faced by government institutions in Brazil. Authorities continue to monitor the situation closely and are expected to bolster cybersecurity measures further. With hackers like Azael signaling potential future attacks, the incident serves as a stark reminder of the persistent threat posed by politically driven cyber aggression.
Source: Tecmundo
