Welcome to the scary world of new age hybrid warfare where cyber attacks are sine-qua-non to any military exercise. Ever wondered what the following hacker groups have in common? -FancyBear, SandWorm, Conti, Turla; all Russian and allegedly responsible for hacking Presidential elections in Ukraine and launching ‘NotPetya’ attacks causing mayhem on the critical infrastructure of Ukraine. – Groups like Bureau 121, The Lazarus group owing allegiance to North Korea and allegedly responsible for 2016 Bangladesh National Bank cyber heist of more than USD 90 million, launching WannaCry worldwide ransomware attacks (for more information on WannaCry ransomware attacks kindly refer to the author‘s column dated February 24 2022), hack on Sony Pictures in November 2014 for allegedly mocking the supreme leader of North Korea wherein Lazarus hacker Park Jin Hyok was held responsible and put on FBI wanted list, though North Korea denies his existence. – Hacker groups IRGC(Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps), owing allegiance to Iran and infamous for iconic cyber attacks against Aramco oil refinery in Saudi Arabia rendering more than 30,000 computers useless. – MI5, MI6, GCHQ(Government communication headquarter) of UK, capable of tapping data flowing through underground sea cables i.e. approximately 25% of global data.
Read more : The real story behind Russia-Ukraine cyber wars.
