Russia DDoS Election Interference Attack

In response to reports of a DDoS attack launched to interfere with Russian elections, IT security experts commented below.

Sean Newman, Director of Product Management at Corero Network Security:

“Reports of DDoS attacks on the Russian, or any other government, elections come as no surprise. There’s no better time to make your point, whether it’s political, moral or otherwise, whichever side of the political fence you sit.  One thing you can say though is that it’s typically virtually impossible to determine the true source of the attack, as where the DDoS traffic emanates from is almost certainly not directly related to either the attacker, those who funded the attacks, or the geographical region they are located in.

“You’re not going to stop the sources of these attacks from trying to make their point, but you can protect the integrity of the systems being used for the democratic process.  The latest always-on real-time automated DDoS protection solutions can keep systems online, and available for citizens to access at all times during the voting process.”

Lee Munson, Security Researcher at Comparitech.com: 

“As everyone knows by now, all the cool kids get hit by cyberattacks and so, in an attempt to look hip, The People’s Republic of Russia has claimed its very own sob story in the form of a Distributed Denial of Service attack during its recent presidential procession.

“The fifteen alleged powerful nation state virtual combatants, which may have included England, Wales, Ireland and the rebel alliance north of Hadrian’s Wall, could well have been mustering the proposed retaliation for the recent Salisbury poisoning of someone no-one cared about, just a few short weeks ago.

“In fact, given how ineffective the cyber-attack was, I’m pretty sure the combined power of the UK must have been behind it, especially given all the fake news in the British press about how Putin would be re-elected before a single vote had been cast.

“Next week, I expect the same attackers to strike again, this time using puppet politicians to decry the encryption in messaging apps that allowed those nasty vodka-swilling Ruskies to influence the real democratic election across the pond that saw our American friends get exactly what they deserved.”