No doubt you have seen the news today about the UK government accusing Russia’s military intelligence service (GRU) of being behind four high-profile cyber attacks. IT security experts commented below.
Malcolm Taylor, Director Cyber Advisory at ITC Secure:
“It is unprecedented that the government should so overtly point the finger directly at the GRU. They must be very confident of their facts, either due to some sort of technical ‘fingerprint’ in the attack vectors themselves, or perhaps through corroboration from various other intelligence sources. But I think it’s also important to consider who benefits from attacks against these specific targets – WADA, Ukraine and the West in general. The answer to that question of course includes, and may indeed be limited to, Russia and Russian foreign policy interests. The mention of western businesses as targets should also be a reminder that foreign intelligence services do engage in commercial cyber espionage and we all need to take appropriate steps to manage that risk.”
Bill Conner, CEO at SonicWall:
“Whether it’s elections, tariffs or natural disasters, countries currently tend to operate independently. However, the cyber landscape, with its non-existent borders and limitless boundaries, is forcing us to work together in new ways. Today’s announcement by the UK government highlights a growing need for public and private sectors around the world to work together to detect, defend and dissipate the rising volume and ferocity of cyberattacks. Countries and organizations alike must prioritize the protection of their critical infrastructure, elections, energy supply chains, intellectual property and financial systems from those seeking to exploit them in this cyber arms race”
The opinions expressed in this post belong to the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Information Security Buzz.