MASSIVE threat to Britain from new breed of Russian hackers

Russian hackers are now focusing their efforts to ‘disrupt or destroy’ British power networks say government officials.

Today, Wednesday, April 19, Cabinet Minister Oliver Dowden will brief a cyber conference on a ‘new class’ of Russian cyber criminal, hell-bent on crippling Britain’s infrastructure, according to The Daily Mail.

Following the effectiveness of cyber-attacks in Ukraine in which the national power grid was taken down, and nuclear power plants and satellite communications were disrupted, pro-Putin groups are now targeting the UK.

At the CyberUK Conference in Belfast, Mr Dowden will outline how companies that are responsible for ‘keeping the lights on,’ will be subject to unrestrained cyber-attacks.

An official statement is expected today from the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), warning vital national infrastructure operators that they face an unpredictable ‘new class of Russian cyber adversary’ whose mission is to cause chaos for the British people.

The conference will also discuss how the Wagner group and other Kremlin allies are mounting what could be devastating attacks to ‘disrupt or destroy’ key industries such as energy and utilities, essential to keep the country running.

Bridewell, a cyber security specialist company reported a 50 per cent rise in ransomware threats against UK infrastructure in 2022.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, IT security staff across various sectors including government and communications, transport, aviation, utilities, and finance revealed that seven in ten had seen a rise in cyber attacks.

The official threat notice from the NCSC states, ‘Over the past 18 months, a new class of Russian cyber adversary has emerged. These state-aligned groups are often sympathetic to Russia’s invasion and are ideologically, rather than financially, motivated.

‘Although these groups can align to Russia’s perceived interests, they are often not subject to formal state control, and so their actions are less constrained and their targeting broader than traditional cybercrime actors. This makes them less predictable. We expect these groups to look for opportunities to create an impact, particularly if systems are poorly protected.’

Royal Mail was hit by a cyber-attack in January this year, which was linked to Russia.