Cybersecurity Roundup: New Alert Warns of Increased Russia Cyber Crime Coming

A new joint advisory warns of potential increased malicious cyber activity from Russian state-sponsored cyber actors or Russia-aligned cyber crime groups.

The cybersecurity authorities of the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom issued the advisory. Organizations within and beyond the region could be at risk of Russia cyber crime.

This activity may occur in response to the unprecedented economic costs imposed on Russia, as well as material support provided by the United States and its allies and partners. The alert warns network defenders to prepare for potential malicious activity.

Recent Russian state-sponsored cyber operations have included distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. In addition, older operations have included deployment of destructive malware against Ukrainian government and critical infrastructure organizations.

“Evolving intelligence indicates that the Russian government is exploring options for potential cyberattacks,” the alert said. “Additionally, some cybercrime groups have recently publicly pledged support for the Russian government. These Russian-aligned cybercrime groups have threatened to conduct cyber operations in retaliation for perceived cyber offensives against the Russian government or the Russian people.”

Some groups have also threatened to conduct cyber operations against countries and organizations providing material support to Ukraine. Other cybercrime groups have recently conducted disruptive attacks against Ukrainian websites, likely in support of the Russian military offensive.

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