From the Russia/Ukraine conflict to a father criminally reducing his children’s screen time, cyber threats are emerging from unexpected sources.
Whilst Russian soldiers cross over into Ukraine, cybercriminals must not be overlooked – the cyber border is just as critical. Companies must make important investments to ensure their security posture is under control.
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Head over to our Threat Set Radio – Episode 158.
As the Russia/Ukraine crisis dramatically escalates, reports have emerged regarding the worst DDoS attack Ukraine has ever suffered earlier this year. Whilst its effect was relatively standard in the cyber world, it was the largest the country had observed against its specific targets and was attributed to the Russian GRU.
After technical analysis, the usage of Katana (a variant of the Mirai botnet which improved DDoS capabilities) was identified. This level of sophistication deemed the attack as being planned thoroughly in advance, with the aim to destabilise and undermine the Ukrainian government into chaos. However, Ukraine’s quick response to back up compromised sites meant this tactic failed.
Australia, UK, and a number of other countries are helping Ukraine with their cyber defences. This is a stark reminder that cyberwarfare tactics are substantially high and put many organisations across the globe at risk.
This week, as mentioned on our Threat Set Radio, a joint security alert from NCSC, CISA, NSA & FBI warns of a new malware believed to be linked to the Sandworm group, which was also attributed to the Russian GRU from Ukraine’s previous DDoS attack. This malware strain has been dubbed Cyclops Blink – an advanced replacement framework for the group’s previous targeting of exposed VPNfiler malware.
Its sophisticated ability to beacon device information back to the attacker’s server to enable file download, as well as add new modules while the malware is running, allows Sandworm to implement additional capability as required.
Due to these recent security alerts, remediation advice for companies infected (but also any company that may be caught in the crossfire) encourages employers to:
Check out our Top 8 Mitigation Tactics for further insight.
Cyber crime isn’t always at the forefront of the news – sometimes it’s next door.
This was certainly the case when a father in France illegally purchased a signal jammer in an attempt to limit his children’s internet usage, accidentally wiping out an entire town’s internet as a result. He currently faces a $30,000 fine and potentially 6 months in prison!
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