infrastructure last year, including the Colonial Pipeline. They cast doubt Friday on whether the arrests would significantly affect ransomware gangs, whose activities have only moderately eased after high-profile attacks on critical U.S. Cybersecurity experts say its members largely moved to other ransomware syndicates. The FSB claimed to have dismantled the gang, but REvil effectively disbanded in July.
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The group was behind last year’s Fourth of July weekend supply-chain attack targeting the software firm Kaseya, which crippled more than 1,000 businesses and public organizations globally. On Friday, Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB, announced the detention of members of the REvil ransomware gang. government agencies and ransomware attacks launched by Russia-based criminal gangs. The defacements followed a year in which cybersecurity became a top concern because of a Russian-government cyberespionage campaign targeting U.S. They said Friday’s attack amounts “to trolling, sending a message that Ukraine could see worse to come.” Researchers from the global risk think tank Eurasia Group said the Ukraine defacements don’t “necessarily point to an imminent escalation of hostilities by Russia” - they rank low on its ladder of cyber options. It told Ukrainians to “be afraid and expect the worst.” In response, Poland's government noted Russia has a long history of disinformation campaigns and that the Polish in the message was error-ridden and clearly not from a native speaker. The main question for the website defacements is whether they're the work of Russian freelancers or part of a larger state-backed operation, said Oleh Derevianko, a leading private sector expert and founder of the ISSP cybersecurity firm.Ī message posted by the hackers in Russian, Ukrainian and Polish claimed Ukrainians’ personal data had been placed online and destroyed. “If you’re trying to use it as a stage and a deterrent to stop people from moving forward with NATO consideration or other things, cyber is perfect,” Tim Conway, a cybersecurity instructor at the SANS Institute, told the AP last week. Tensions between Ukraine and Russia are high, with Moscow amassing an estimated 100,000 troops near its extensive border with Ukraine. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday the alliance will continue to provide “strong political and practical support” to Ukraine in light of the cyberattacks.Įxperts say Russian President Vladimir Putin could use cyberattacks to destabilize Ukraine and other ex-Soviet countries that wish to join NATO without having to commit troops. State Department assistance, have been fortifying the defenses of critical infrastructure ever since. Ukrainian cybersecurity professionals, aided by more than $40 million in U.S. Moscow has previously denied involvement in cyberattacks against Ukraine. In 2017, Russia unleashed one of the most damaging cyberattacks on record with the NotPetya virus, which targeted Ukrainian businesses and caused more than $10 billion in damage globally. Russia’s past cyber operations against Ukraine include a hack of its voting system before 2014 national elections and of its power grid in 20. The arrests are thought by the White House to be unrelated to the Russia-Ukraine tension, according to the official. The official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said one of those arrested was linked to the hack of Colonial Pipeline that resulted in days of gas shortages in parts of the U.S. A senior administration official, meanwhile, said the White House welcomed news of the arrests in Russia of alleged ransomware gang members, an operation Moscow said was done at the request of U.S. The White House said it was still assessing the impact of the defacements but described it as “limited” so far. How to Properly Store Your At-Home COVID-19 Rapid Tests