Bonum Certa Men Certa

Cyberattacks on SUEPO Server Raise More Questions

World Cyber Games 2004



Summary: Several sites that are critical of the EPO's management seem to have become prominent targets of 'script kiddies'

Cyberattacks are a tricky thing to tackle. Systems analysis is hard because of the topology of the Internet (hopping possible, no fixed addresses, etc.) and administrations know the absolute limitations because other than pattern spotting not much can be done, especially when it comes to spotting the source of such attacks in a world full of zombies, botnets, and other consequences of back doors in Internet-connected proprietary software.



Last year our multi-layer servers infrastructure came under attacks which targeted both Tux Machines and Techrights. It started around the same time we published the EPO revelations, so when the webhost asked me if I could think of anyone who had the motivation to attack I said that I could think of nothing except the EPO series (although I was very hesitant to assume the EPO would resort to such attacks). These attacks lasted several months, often coinciding or intensifying with our release of EPO-related documents. Tux Machines does not have enemies because it mostly syndicates news.

"Maybe all these attacks are just a mere coincidence without correlation, but the fact remain that many critics of The EPO’s Vice-President Željko Topić suffer one way or another."Several months went by and another Web site critical of the EPO (especially the Vice-President, Željko Topić) said it had been cracked. Weeks later we learned that another such site, also critical of the EPO's Vice-President, feared retribution and decided to delete documents relating to the EPO Vice-President (knowing that he not only berates but also bullies his critics using lawsuits and apparent requests for removal/apology). Last week we learned that SUEPO, which is the staff union of the EPO (known for criticism of the EPO's notorious Vice-President), had been "cracked" based on some sources. That claim may not have been accurate because based on the following text, which appeared yesterday on the SUEPO Web site, it was a DDOS attack combined with/related to brute-force cracking attempts. "We don't have any more details beyond this," told us the source who passed us the following text (statement from SUEPO):

"The SUEPO websites were unreachable on Thursday 5 February 2015 because of a cyber attack (of the Denial of Service type). The attackers also attempted an SSH brute-force attack to take control of the server. Such attacks constitute a violation of law and SUEPO has filed criminal charges against unknown and will cooperate with the German and Dutch authorities, who are now investigating the matter."

Some comments (scroll down) in IPKat say that many of the offending addresses are in Belgium, but many are also in east Asia.

On Sunday we published an important batch of documents about the EPO's notorious Vice-President, whereupon over 50,000 cracking/login attempts were made in just 15 hours, bringing the site down for periods of time. This is not normal. Remember that when the EPO's management does not waste money 'planting' articles in the media and bullying staff it is paying a Stasi-like unit to conduct surveillance on staff. Such units have no ethics whatsoever, so consider what they're after (e.g. harvesting of IP addresses).

Maybe all these attacks are just a mere coincidence without correlation, but the fact remain that many critics of The EPO’s Vice-President Željko Topić suffer one way or another. We are not going to be intimidated by legal threats or technical sabotage and as a result of these recent events we are encouraged to actually speed up release of incriminating/damaging documents, irrespective of who's behind these attacks.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

European Patent Office (EPO) Series: Battistelli's "Baltic Crusader"
Gilles Requena, Battistelli's erstwhile "Baltic Crusader" and the loyal servant of his successor Campinos
Microsoft's XBox "Bloodbath" Seems to Have Already Begun (Informally), Studios Allegedly to Face Shutdowns, Layoff Notices Handed Out, 100% Layoffs in Some Cases, 10% in Others or on Average
So is a complete closure/shutdown imminent? (Compulsion Games in this case)
SLAPP Censorship - Part 105 Out of 200: When Bad Legal Advice Results in Your Client, Dale Vince, Ordered to Pay £600k - or 801,930 United States Dollar (USD) - to the Person Frivolously Sued (Lord Bailey of Paddington)
"A judge has ruled that Dale Vince must pay punitive costs to Lord Bailey of Paddington, the Tory peer, over the 'unexplained abandonment' of his" SLAPP
 
SLAPP Censorship - Part 106 Out of 200: 100 Kilograms of Legal Papers
When one party's communications and filings weigh at about 3 KG of paper and another's... at about 100 KG of paper
Links 14/06/2026: More Google Layoffs, Wall Street Deems Companies That Lose Money "Worth" Trillions
Links for the day
Gemini Links 14/06/2026: "The Universe is a Hologram", "Matrix Brain Download", and "Happy 0th Year"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, June 13, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, June 13, 2026
Links 13/06/2026: University of Nottingham Confirms Data/System Breach, Courts Fuming at Fraudulent Lawyers Who Fling LLM Slop at Them
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/06/2026: World Cups and 做人
Links for the day
Discussing Morale at IBM and Conversations Regarding IBM Layoffs (Disguised as Other Things)
Trolling can be a form of censorship
European Patent Office (EPO) Series: All the President's Men
Gilles Requena,Patrice Pellegrino, and Sandro Mendonça
SUEPO Elections Coming Up, Union Leaders at Europe's Second-Largest Institution (EPO) to be Determined Soon
The staff union of the European Patent Office (SUEPO) is having an election soon
How Long for Can American Taxpayers Justify Bailing Out Microsoft?
How many times need the American taxpayers give Microsoft money for vapourware that's neither necessary nor delivered?
IBM is Importing/Exporting Corporations' Regime of Censorship (Hiding the Wrongdoing) to Free Software Communities
Is IBM protecting criminals in the name of "manners"?
Links 13/06/2026: Microsoft’s XBox Crisis and "Apple Deepfakes"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/06/2026: Why Humans Are Mostly Right Handed and "Getting Things Done"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, June 12, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, June 12, 2026
SLAPP Censorship - Part 104 Out of 200: Exactly Two Years Ago Brett Wilson LLP Humiliated or Weaponised Our Solicitor's Judaism in an Effort to Censor and Gag Us
dated 12/06/24
Half a Year Since Slopwatch Died
To Google's credit, it did manage to delist a lot of slopfarms in recent months
Links 12/06/2026: Science, Windows TCO, and More
Links for the day
"AI" 46 Times in One 'Article' Because The Register MS Got Paid to Push it
Today is just another opportunity to remind people that the slop bubble and GPU bubble are based on inauthentic fake 'journalism'
Gemini Links 12/06/2026: FTP and Gopher, Cluster Outage Postmortem After Cleaning by Wife
Links for the day
Sonny Piers Finally Spills the Beans on GNOME Cover-up, Points Finger at Robert McQueen, Misusing "Defamation" to Silence Critics of Wrongdoing
Robert McQueen, who is extremely connected to Garrett (they share digital nests)
European Patent Office (EPO) Series: Transcending Partisan Rivalry in the National Interest
Up until now, Campinos has generally been regarded as a Portuguese "asset" on the international stage
Gratitude to Whistleblowers or Sources of Techrights
Whistleblowers are what makes journalism work
Techrights Was Months Ahead of "XBox" News (Mass Layoffs)
Next: end of XBox as a console
More Commentary on June 2026 IBM Layoffs and Why They Happen
It sounds a lot like what happened to the EPO
Links 12/06/2026: "NearlyFreeSpeech" No More, Openwashing by Google (DiffusionGemma)
Links for the day
Today There's a Massive EPO Strike (Like Every Friday), Workers Explain Further Cuts Despite the EPO Making More Income by Granting Illegal Patents (or Invalid Patents Illegally)
"Recent exchange with the Administration on the implications of the SAP on the Education and Childcare Allowance"
The Cyber Show: Remember That Code is Art
The article is very long, very profound, and speaks of "the next installation"
Communicating With Freedom - Part IV - Quibble Now in quibble.chat, Open for Contributions Via Codeberg
Today we continue the series about Quibble
European Patent Office (EPO) Series: The Importance of Having "Pals from the Palacete"
for his reappointment bid to succeed, Campinos will need to be able to rely on the support of both the Portuguese Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, and the President of the European Council, António Costa
Cyber Show on How Updates or Upgrades Break Workflows, Even in Free Software
"We did a big upgrade on the AV production pipeline"
Discussions About IBM Layoffs in June, Including by RTO and PIPs
mass layoffs are becoming increasingly difficult to conceal
Gemini Links 12/06/2026: Decks and Work Essay
Links for the day
"Rolling Strikes" Continue at the European Patent Office, the Administrative Council Needs to Take Action Against Crooked Office Management
This coming weekend we'll talk about some of the other issues and concerns expressed by the union
Only Days After Mass Layoffs in Microsoft's Azure There Are Headlines About Much-Expected XBox Layoffs
XBox as a console is basically dead or "fast-dying"
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, June 11, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, June 11, 2026