{"id":53,"date":"2022-05-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-20T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/conscia.com\/uk\/?p=53"},"modified":"2025-07-14T09:52:37","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T09:52:37","slug":"the-rising-risk-of-russian-cyber-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/conscia.com\/uk\/blog\/the-rising-risk-of-russian-cyber-attacks\/","title":{"rendered":"The rising risk of Russian cyber attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

The recent cybersecurity alert issued by the Five Eyes intelligence alliance (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the USA), warns critical infrastructure organisations to ramp-up their defences. Lindy Cameron, CEO of the National Cyber Security Council (NCSC), is in no doubt \u2018it is vital that all organisations accelerate plans to raise their overall cyber resilience\u2019. It seems that while the extent of Russian military capability may have been questioned in recent weeks, the cyber threat from Russia remains very real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WHY NOW?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been more than three months since Russia invaded Ukraine, and instead of the wall-to-wall news coverage we saw in the first few days, it has all started to feel more like background noise. The atrocities continue, but as the focus in the media returns to football matches or the cost-of-living crisis, conflict in the Ukraine no longer dominates the headlines. Rightly or wrongly, the shock factor has worn off. But as we adjust to a \u2018new normal\u2019 of Russian aggression hovering in our peripheral vision, we can\u2019t afford to become complacent. Many of us have breathed a metaphorical \u2013 or literal \u2013 sigh of relief, as Russia has been revealed to be far less of a military threat than we once thought, unable as yet to secure \u2018significant results\u2019 from their ongoing offensive.[1]<\/sup> It is precisely this military frustration, however, that will encourage Russian officials to consider alternative methods of applying pressure on the West, and Five Eyes warns \u2018evolving intelligence indicates that the Russian government is exploring options for potential cyber-attacks\u2019.[2]<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The use of cyber-attacks as strategy is far from unprecedented \u2013 Jen Easterly, Director of the US cybersecurity agency CISA, notes that \u2018malicious cyber activity is part of the Russian playbook\u2019.[3]<\/sup> In 2017, the disruptive NotPetya attack targeting Ukraine spread across Europe, costing organisations hundreds of millions.[4]<\/sup> Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks also successfully disrupted the Ukrainian banking sector immediately before the invasion in February 2022.[5]<\/sup> Our 21st century reliance on digital infrastructures make them highly desirable targets for disruption \u2013 targets that also happen to lack the protection of land or borders. An additional concern is that Russian state-sponsored activity isn\u2019t the only source of threat. Equally worrying are the numerous cyber-criminal groups that have aligned themselves with Russian interests, and could target any country providing support for Ukraine, or seen to be applying pressure on the Russian government or people. Killnet, a pro-Russian hacker group, has already claimed credit for a recent DDoS attack on a US airport. With the UK and EU both increasing economic sanctions this month, intelligence suggests that the NHS, nuclear power stations, and parts of the civil service could be at risk [6]<\/sup> \u2013 although any organisation could be affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HOW TO RAISE YOUR CYBER RESILIENCE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NCSC and international cybersecurity authorities are urging critical infrastructure to prepare for a range of potential cyber threats, including malware, ransomware, DDoS attacks, and cyber espionage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immediate actions for all organisations include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n