Five Eyes nations flag concerns over cyber attack by Russia

Five Eyes, which consists of an intelligence alliance among Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the US, has raised concerns over potential cyberattacks by Russian authorities. 

The agencies discovered the cyber attack by Russia in response to sanctions imposed by these five nations for waging an unprovoked war against Ukraine.  

The advisory came as a joint warning by cyber security agencies of these nations.  

“Evolving intelligence indicates that the Russian government is exploring options for potential cyberattacks. Recent Russian state-sponsored cyber operations have included distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, and older operations have included deployment of destructive malware against Ukrainian government and critical infrastructure organisations,” United States’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA said in an official statement.  

CISA also revealed that some cybercrime groups, which have recently publicly pledged support for the Russian government, have threatened to conduct cyber operations in retaliation for perceived cyber offensives against Russia. While some groups have also threatened to conduct cyber operations against countries and organisations providing materiel support to Ukraine, some have made disruptive attacks against Ukrainian websites, likely in support of the Russian military offensive.  

Some of the groups identified by the cybersecurity agencies are CoomingProject, Killnet, Mummy Spider, Salty Spider, Scully Spider, Smokey Spider, Wizard Spider, and the Xaknet Team.  

Meanwhile cybersecurity authorities from the Five Eyes have urged critical infrastructure network defenders to prepare for and mitigate potential cyber threats — including destructive malware, ransomware, DDoS attacks, and cyber espionage —by hardening their cyber defences and performing due diligence in identifying indicators of malicious activity.