Russian state-backed cyber hackers have been accessing network infrastructure devices worldwide for espionage and preparation for potential future cyberattacks, says a joint Technical Alert about “malicious cyber activity carried out by the Russian government” released by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the FBI and the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) earlier this week.
The hackers have reportedly focused on “government and private-sector organisations, critical infrastructure providers, and the internet service providers (ISPs) supporting these sectors” by attacking routers, switches, firewalls, and the Network Intrusion Detection System (NIDS).
In the official statement, Ciaran Martin, CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre, said that handling the problem is “a major priority for the NCSC and our US allies,” as Russia is “the most capable hostile adversary in cyberspace.”
“This is the first time that in attributing a cyber attack to Russia the US and the UK have, at the same time, issued joint advice to industry about how to manage the risks from the attack. It marks an important step in our fight back against state-sponsored aggression in cyberspace,” he added.
According to the document, Russian hackers have been using “basic weaknesses in network systems,” which the NCSC is planning to eliminate by “automating defences at scale” to focus “on the most potent threats.”
Russia has been accused of being behind multiple cyber attacks. Among them are a “malicious” cyber-attack on Ukraine that spread globally last year, causing billions of dollars in damage across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, the theft of NSA data on US cyber defense, not to mention the hack that leaked some 20,000 U.S. Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails during the US presidential campaign in 2016.
Cold war tone
In its response statement, the Russian embassy in the UK saw in these accusations “striking examples of a reckless, provocative and unfounded policy against Russia.”
Moreover, the fact that the British media has been using the issue of “cyberthreats from Russia,” in addition to the alert, has led the Russian authorities to think that the British public is being prepared for “a massive cyber attack by the UK against Russia.”
Russia has suggested Britain on several occasions and different levels “establishing bilateral mechanisms of cooperation in the sphere of information security.” These suggestions have all been ignored, according to the Russian diplomats.
