Ukraine Predicts A Massive Cyber Attack From Russia

A new form of cyber conflict has emerged in the Ukraine war, in which Russia attempts to disrupt online services and steal information, while Ukraine and its allies have so far managed to reduce the attacks. However, the Russian leadership is now planning a major new cyber attack campaign on the critical infrastructure of Ukraine.

The Ukraine war is in its seventh month and Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence’s Main Directorate of Intelligence is predicting an increase in attacks originating from Russia against Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, especially the energy industry. 

A brief statement from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence said that the energy industry would be a key target as the weather gets colder. This prediction was made on the basis that as it gets colder and winter approaches, Russia will target the energy sector to impact civilians and threaten their security. More bradly, Kyiv has warned that the Russian government is currently planning a new cyber attack campaign against Ukraine and its allies. 

If intelligence gathered by Ukraine is accurate, the campaign could look similar to the series of devastating attacks that occurred in 2015 and 2016 when the Kremlin targeted Ukrainian facilities and left hundreds of civilians without power.

Kyiv has also confirmed that its experiences from responding to previous incidents targeting is critical infrastructure will help the country to prepare for the predicted assault. Ukraine energy providers are preparing for more attacks using destructive wiper malware used at the outset of the attempted invasion.  The Ukrainian intelligence note also claimed that Russia is planning to intensify DDoS attacks on the critical infrastructure of Ukrainian allies, most notably Poland and the Baltic states. 

In particular, Estonia must be prepared for attempted DDOS attacks since services in the country were last severely disrupted by Russian attacks.

Other Baltic states should also be prepared for an onslaught of cyberattacks as Russia ramps up its efforts and the European Union and its Member States, together with its international partners, strongly condemn the malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which earlier this year targeted the satellite KA-SAT network, owned by Viasat.

EU Council:   Ukraine Minsistry of Defence:   VentureCation:   Politico: 

Baker Institute:   Oodaloop:  Infosecurity Magazine:

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