Russian Cyber Security Attacks

It’s been hard to avoid the influx of somewhat concerning headlines regarding Russia and their president Vladimir Putin over the past weeks.

With cyber attacks, spy poisonings and a Russian election, it appears Russia has caused quite a stir. The enormous country has been dominating front page news, causing not-so-hushed opinions about its leadership and questionable practices.

THE USA

Last Thursday, despite keeping quiet about a lot of Russia’s  previous dubious activity, US President Donald Trump took a stand and publicly accused the Russian government for the cyber attacks on US power plant suppliers and other critical infrastructure organisations. US officials believe these attacks date back at least two years.

The Department of Homeland Security also released details of what they believe to be a multi-stage effort by Russia to target specific government entities and critical infrastructure.

According to US officials, malware has been found in the operating systems of several organisations, and companies in the US energy, nuclear, water and ‘critical manufacturing’ sector. The DHS have reason to believe Russia accessed US government networks by initially targeting small third-party networks that were less secure. This malware as well as other forms of cyber attacks have been traced back to Moscow. As a result, the FBI and DHS issued a warning, urging other companies in the industry to review their cyber security.

The Trump administration announced extensive sanctions against Russia on Thursday morning, which included sanctions on the Internet Research Agency that produced divisive political posts on American social media platforms during the 2016 presidential election.

THE UK

Following the unsettling news that two Russian Spies had been poisoned using nerve agents on UK soil, Theresa May announced severe sanctions on the UK’s relationship and dealings with Russia.

Following this, Russia announced that it was expelling 23 British diplomats in retaliation to Theresa May’s decision to evict 23 Russian spies. This has lead to raised concerns regarding the cyber security of Britain’s key power companies. Just yesterday, spy chiefs warned the bosses of these companies to boost their security amid fears of a Russian Cyber-attack that could result in a black out.

Fears that Russia will target Britain’s critical national infrastructure have prompted round-the-clock threat assessments by the UK’s financial sector, energy firms and GCHQ, along with the security services MI5 and MI6.

Last week, the National Grid was put on high alert by officials from the National Cyber Security Centre and was given advice on how to improve its defences to prevent power cuts.

With rumours of an offensive cyber attack on Russia, Theresa May is looking into how the UK ought to respond to Russia’s actions.