Greece recruits hackers against Turkish cyber attacks

Greece’s national intelligence service (EYP) has recruited 80 hackers following a resurgence of cyber attacks by Turkish actors, the Greek City Times reported on Sunday.

The recruitment was aimed at strengthening Greek cyber security staff in the wake of new targeted attacks by a group of Turkish hackers called the Ayyıldız Tim, the Greek City Times said.

Earlier this year, another Turkish group calling themselves the Anka Soldiers targeted websites of Greek institutions, including parliament, the Foreign Ministry, the Finance Ministry, the intelligence services and stock exchange after the country’s stance against Turkey’s interests in Libya hardened.

Late May saw another targeted attack where hackers replaced the contents of the Greek interior ministry’s website with a photograph of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan superimposed on a Turkish flag, a move it said was “in response to disrespect towards the Muslim community”.

Ayyıldız Tim assumed responsibility for another attack last week, when they took down the website of a town in Greece’s Thessaloniki province, the newspaper reported.

In response, hacker group Anonymous Greece targeted the Turkish Foreign Ministry and Defence Ministry’s websites, the Greek City Times said. While this incident was not reported in the Turkish media, pro-government newspaper Akit shared details of an attack by hacker group RootAyyıldız on the Greek Interior Ministry.

“If you look in detail you can find personal information on many ministry workers in Greece. Think again when you speak against Turkey,” the group said.

Tensions between Greece and Turkey have been running high over Turkey’s energy moves in the Mediterranean, a renewed refugee crisis, and most recently a row over the status of Byzantine monument Hagia Sophia.