News from the different realms of Cybersecurity
Events like these truly show how much war has evolved in the cyber realm.
BleepingComputer – “Ransomware gangs, hackers pick sides over Russia invading Ukraine”: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/ransomware-gangs-hackers-pick-sides-over-russia-invading-ukraine/
Ukraine sends out calls for help for cyber defenders to protect their Infrastructure. Ukrainian troops targeted by phishing attacks in supposed attempts to possibly gather sensitive data and contact information. Meanwhile, after some of Russia’s internet sites fell to an un-reachable status during Russia’s operation of invading Ukraine, Anonymous has taken responsibility for the denial of service attacks. Anonymous has proclaimed they will continue their cyber attacks against the Kremlin as well in #OpRussia.
Security Affairs – “Anonymous launched its offensive on Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine”: https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/128392/hacktivism/anonymous-cyber-attacks-russia.html
Infosecurity Magazine – “Anonymous Hacking Group Declares “Cyber War” Against Russia”: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/anonymous-hacking-group-cyber-war/
ZDNet – “Report: Ukraine calls for volunteer hackers to protect critical infrastructure”: https://www.zdnet.com/article/ukraine-calls-for-underground-hackers-to-protect-critical-infrastructure-report/
BitDefender – “Ukraine calls for volunteer hackers to protect its critical infrastructure and spy on Russian forces”: https://www.bitdefender.com/blog/hotforsecurity/ukraine-calls-for-volunteer-hackers-to-protect-its-critical-infrastructure-and-spy-on-russian-forces/
DarkReading – “Ukrainian Troops Targeted in Phishing Attacks by Suspected Belarusian APT”: https://www.darkreading.com/endpoint/ukrainian-troops-targeted-in-phishing-attacks-by-suspected-belarusian-apt
From command & control to data wiping malware, Ukraine is struggling with quite a bit of cyber threats since the start of Russia’s operation. When it comes to DDoS attacks both Russia and Ukraine are both having to defend themself. Internet sites in both countries have been seen going completely un-reachable during this event.
ABC News – Cyberattacks accompany Russian military assault on Ukraine – ABC News: https://abcn.ws/3IjbNmX
ZDNet – Flight tracker Flightradar24 crash caused by ‘international interest’ in Ukraine, Russia conflict: https://www.zdnet.com/article/flight-tracker-flightradar24-crash-caused-by-international-interest-in-ukraine-russia-conflict/
ZDNet – Ukraine Ministry of Defense confirms DDoS attack; state banks lose connectivity: https://www.zdnet.com/article/ukraine-ministry-of-defense-confirms-ddos-attack-state-banks-loses-connectivity/
Infosecurity Magazine – US and UK Warn of VPNFilter Successor “Cyclops Blink”: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/
Reuters – Ukraine computers hit by data-wiping software as Russia launched invasion: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukrainian-government-foreign-ministry-parliament-websites-down-2022-02-23/
CNBC – Cyberattack hits Ukrainian banks and government websites: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/23/cyberattack-hits-ukrainian-banks-and-government-websites.html
CNN – Russian government websites mysteriously go dark as invasion continues: https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-news-02-24-22-intl/h_e0d16b404e39c4f6bbbb337fe2e4f1a1
A new malware threat named Cyclops Blink, which appears to replace Sandworm’s VPNFilter malware that was used against Ukraine in 2018, is targeting Watchguard firewalls to compromise, implement command and control, update the malware instance with more mods to possibly use for larger attacks and even more.
Cybersecurity Today