Last week, the UK and US governments attributed DDoS attacks on Ukrainian organizations to Russian intelligence, with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) reporting that they were almost certain the attacks were the work of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU). A Foreign Office spokesperson stated that the attack showed a disregard for Ukrainian sovereignty, leading intelligence teams to believe it was the work of Russian hackers. US deputy national security advisor for cyber, Anne Neuberger, warned that the attacks could be the start of a larger campaign that is designed to coincide with military action against Ukraine.
The US government stated that it believes Russian cyber actors are targeting the Ukrainian government in key sectors such as military and critical infrastructure networks, to both collect intelligence and pre-position to conduct more harmful and disruptive cyber activities. The cyber operations could be leveraged if Russia were to invade Ukraine.
Read More: Russia “Pre-positioning” Cyber-Attacks for Potential Invasion
