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Local authorities and critical infrastructure operators are being warned to update their cyber defences to fend off Russian hacktivists
This week, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is warning that Russian-state backed hackers are consistently targeting the UK public sector and critical infrastructure with dedicated denial of service (DDoS) attacks to disrupt and disable services.
DDoS attacks involve flooring target websites with illegitimate website traffic, rendering them unusable for genuine customers. While unsophisticated in cyberattack terms, these attacks can still cause enormous disruption to critical services, impacting thousands of people.
The NCSC is calling on at-risk organisations to review and improve their DDoS defences. This includes identifying potential vulnerabilities upstream and working more closely with ISPs to clarify when and how they can throttle traffic to limit impact to existing users.
The document provides advice on how to respond once an attack has taken place.
“We continue to see Russian-aligned hacktivist groups targeting UK organisations and although denial-of-service attacks may be technically simple, their impact can be significant. By overwhelming important websites and online systems, these attacks can prevent people from accessing the essential services they depend on every day,” said Jonathon Ellison, Director of National Resilience the NCSC. “All organisations, especially those identified in today’s alert, are urged to act now by reviewing and implementing the NCSC’s freely available guidance to protect against DoS attacks and other cyber threats.”
Pro-Russian hactivism is on the rise, not just against the UK but against the West at large. In December last year the NCSC joined numerous international cybersecurity agencies in releasing a new advisory on the scale of international cyber attacks, as well as providing security recommendations to reduce their likelihood and impact.
The piece names various pro-Russia hacktivist groups, including Cyber Army of Russia Reborn (CARR), Z-Pentest, NoName057(16), and Sector16 as key culprits.
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