The Advisory notes that evolving intelligence indicates that the Russian government is exploring options for potential cyber attacks and that some cybercrime groups have recently publicly pledged support for the Russian government and threatened to conduct cyber operations on behalf of the Russian government. mueller Much of the content in this blog post is sourced directly from the CISA joint alert. Callie plays a key role in the application of threat intelligence to the cybersecurity space and has helped government agencies, nonprofit organizations, healthcare organizations and the private sector prepare against cyberattacks. Evolving intelligence indicates that the Russian Government is exploring options for potential cyberattacks. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Moriah spent eight years working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Department of Justice. Responding to Cyber Incidents. For cybersecurity matters, Mr. Fein counsels clients on preparing for and responding to cyber-based attacks, assessing. Michael Zuckerman is a seasoned B2B product marketing and marketing strategy consultant with experience in the cybersecurity and enterprise-saas software markets.
The malware appears to check victims systems for a Russian IP address, and if it doesnt find one, the malware halts execution. GTsST is particularly known to use destructive or disruptive attacks, such as distributed denial of service (DDoS) and wiper malware. Hackers defaced the websites, posting threatening messages including be afraid and expect the worst, in advance of Russian troops crossing the border into Ukraine.
This CISA joint alert notes that MITRE ATT&CK Command Control Tactic TA0011 has been observed, and specifically, the use of Data Encoding: Standard Encoding Technique T1132.001. Russias invasion of Ukraine could impact organizations both within and beyond the region, to include malicious cyber activity against the U.S. homeland, including as a response to the unprecedented economic costs imposed on Russia by the U.S. and our allies and partners. The indicted TsNIIKhM cyber actor is charged with attempting to access U.S. protected computer networks and to cause damage to an energy facility. Rostec blamed the incident on Ukrainian "radicals, likely part of the IT Army, and claimed it has faced consistent attacks since late February. Raising your house might be the b, We love seeing our completed projects Russian Ministry of Defense, Central Scientific Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics (TsNIIKhM): TsNIIKhM is known publicly as a research organization in the Russian Ministry of Defense, but the Advisory notes it has developed destructive ICS malware, known as Triton, HatMan, and TRISIS. - 25 Days till Christmas! On March 24, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed indictments of three Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officers and a Russian Federation Central Scientific Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics (TsNIIKhM) employee for their involvement in the following intrusion campaigns against U.S. and international oil refineries, nuclear facilities, and energy companies. He also advises aerospace, defense, and intelligence contractors on security compliance under U.S. national security laws and regulations including, among others, the National Industrial Security Program (NISPOM), U.S. government cybersecurity regulations, and requirements related to supply chain security. CISA has published a joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) which is coauthored by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Department of Energy (DOE). The Advisory notes that while these groups may conduct cyber operations in support of the Russian government . The attacks came as tensions heightened between Ukraine and Russia. Russia has continued to launch DDoS attacks intermittently, and, in the first week of March, Russian groups were found using DanaBot, a malware-as-a-service platform, to launch DDoS attacks against Ukrainian defense ministry websites. Samples collected indicate this malware has been present since December 2021, implying this cyber campaign has been in the works for nearly two months. SVRs TTPs include custom and sophisticated malware targeting Windows and Linux systems and lateral movement within a compromised network that can bypass multi-factor authentication (MFA) on privileged cloud accounts. Once you appoint a house raiser or a builder and sign a contract with them, they will pay the QBCC Home Warranty Insurance. Russian-Aligned Cyber Threat Groups. Killnet: Killnet likewise pledged support to the Russian government. These targeted both U.S. and international Energy Sector organizations. HermeticWiper abuses legitimate drivers associated with an application called EaseUS Partition Master. russian This GRU affiliated threat group was associated with the following malicious activities: Gamaredon (aka Primitive Bear), has been conducting operations against Ukrainian government officials and organizations since 2013. Of the many Russian-attributed advanced persistent threat groups (APTs), there are a couple that stand out in terms of capabilities to conduct large-scale, targeted attacks. For cybersecurity matters, Mr. Fein counsels clients on preparing for and responding to cyber-based attacks, assessing security controls and practices for the protection of data and systems, developing and implementing cybersecurity risk management and governance programs, and complying with federal and state regulatory requirements. A June 2021 Gartner report recommends organizations leverage DNS logs for threat detection and forensic purposes with their Security Information and Event Management platforms. Privacy Policy, January 2022 Joint Cybersecurity Advisory. HermeticWiper appears to have some similarities with previous campaigns launched by the Russian-sponsored group Sandworm. To read the CISA alert directly, please refer to: https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/ncas/alerts/aa22-083a. Validate remote access activity and require all accounts authenticate using multi-factor authentication, Disable all non-essential ports and protocols, Ensure all appropriate security controls have been implemented in cloud environments, If you are a Critical Start customer, contact your Customer Success Manager as updates to your major incident response plan are made, Audit user account access, roles, and rights; especially for high value admins, systems, and executives. 
Russia launched a wiper, dubbed IsaacWiper, against Ukrainian government systems, coinciding with the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. As tensions between Russia, NATO, and Ukraine have continued to escalate over the last six weeks, military operations have now commenced as Russian military forces were ordered to cross into Ukraine on February 24th 2022. Schneider Electric has issued a patch to mitigate the risk of the TRITON malwares attack vector; however, network defenders should install the patch and remain vigilant against these threat actors TTPs. To find out more about how Infoblox can help protect your DNS infrastructure please reach out to us via https://info.infoblox.com/contact-form/. The Advisory also provides links to many additional resources on a variety of topics, including: Russian state-sponsored malicious cyber activity; other malicious and criminal cyber activity; protecting against and responding to ransomware; destructive malware; incident response; and additional resources for critical infrastructure owners and operators with OT/ICS networks. As part of her cybersecurity practice, Moriah specializes in assisting clients in responding to cybersecurity incidents, including matters involving Advanced Persistent Threats targeting sensitive intellectual property and personally identifiable information. At this time, there have been no legitimate files signed with this certificate. - Jessie Miller is the intern for the Digital and Cyberspace Program at the Council on Foreign Relations. In its announcement, the authorities urged critical infrastructure network defenders in particular to prepare for and mitigate potential cyber threats by hardening their cyber defenses as recommended in the Advisory. Every organizationlarge and smallmust be prepared to respond to disruptive cyber incidents. Programming on these services was interrupted by clips from the war in Ukraine. Verify all critical systems have backups in a secure location. The attack is suspected to have been a distraction from more destructive attacks. Kyle Fendorf is the research associate for the Digital and Cyberspace Program at the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved. One of the indicted FSB officers was involved in campaign activity that involved deploying Havex malware to victim networks. This can include remote workers, cloud, and on-premises environments. This predates the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against several Ukrainian websites earlier this month and the WhisperGate malware attack against Ukrainian government websites in January. By subscribing above, you agree to receive communications from Infoblox Inc. regarding blog updates or Infobloxs services. - For more information on Russian state-sponsored malicious cyber activity, see CISAs Russia Cyber Threat Overview and Advisories webpage. SALTY SPIDER has conducted DDoS attacks against Ukrainian web forums discussing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The emergence of the RURansom wiper on March 1, 2022, represents one of the first uses of a wiper by pro-Ukrainian hacktivists, and may portend a new phase in the ongoing cyber campaign against Russia. Viasat is still working to restore service to affected parts of the country almost three weeks after the attack occurred. DNS is frequently used during the execution of most cyberattacks. You may withdraw your consent at any time. This can include ransomware, use as a C&C channel, and for malware download and subsequent data exfiltration.
Additional Resources. The former is known to target Ukrainian organizations and the latter is known to target NATO governments, defense contractors, and other organizations of intelligence value. Notably, the Advisory explains that none of the governments responsible for the Advisory have formally attributed either of these groups to the Russian government, but nevertheless seems to recognize that these groups are aligned with the Russian government. cyber criminals will most likely continue to operate primarily based on financial motivations, which may include targeting government and critical infrastructure organizations..