Ukraine's "IT Army" using DDoS attacks has developed custom malware tailored explicitly to Russia. Since its attack on Ukraine, Russia's become a pariah among much of the world and other world powers, and as far as cyberattacks go, it's now a fan favorite for frequent cyberattacks.
This tight-knit group of volunteers continues to successfully take down many Russian websites, effectively putting them offline with intense waves of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, pushing heavy malicious traffic and making the platform inaccessible.
These DDoS attacks make up the backbone of all cyberattacks, helping to keep Russia off the cyber sidelines and out of play. When it comes to Russian targets, no one is safe. Whether it's Russian online payment services, government departments, aviation companies, or food delivery firms, everything is fair game these days.
The IT Army's Telegram channel stated in mid-April, "Russians have noticed regular hitches in the work of TV streaming services today."
Interestingly, many cybercriminals have ties to Russia in some way; since the invasion of Ukraine, that's changed. As Stefano De Blasi, a cyber-threat expert, points out, "Russia is typically considered one of those countries where cyberattacks come from and not go to."
De Blasi states, "I think the most sophisticated operations going on right now are espionage—to find out what the opponent is trying to do, wants to do, and will do next. We may have to wait years before discovering anything about that."
For years before the attack on Ukraine, Russian officials were toying with the idea of effectively cutting themselves off from the world's internet, a decision they say is necessary to ensure national security. Ultimately, this could leave Russia even more isolated in the physical and virtual worlds. Only the future will show us what is in store as Russia continues double down its efforts.
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