CyberScoop reports that new destructive cyberattacks could be deployed by Russian state-sponsored threat actors in a bid to strengthen their cyberespionage and influence operations.
Aside from ongoing efforts to bolster intelligence gathering and malware attack testing, Russian hackers have also been looking to continue targeting military and humanitarian supply chains, according to a report from Microsoft's Digital Threat Analysis Center.
"It is not that we necessarily think that Russia will launch a stream of cyberattacks, however we are currently seeing patterns of targeted threat activity in Ukraine similar to the early days of the invasion. Russian state actors are working to gain accesses in Ukrainian and European networks and refining their malicious toolkits further suggesting preparations are underway for espionage or destruction," said Microsoft Digital Threat Analysis Center General Manager Clint Watts.
The report follows Mandiant's report that Russian hacking operation APT28 has compromised more than 12 military, transportation, and energy networks from April to December 2022, an intrusion Mandiant Head of Intelligence Analysis John Hultquist refers to as a "propagation event."
U.S. critical infrastructure organizations have been noted by the Department of Homeland Security to be at risk of cyberattacks leveraging artificial intelligence, with China and other nation-states exploiting the technology to deploy more advanced malware attacks and influence operations, CyberScoop reports.
Russia-based threat actors have been blamed by Bermuda Premier David Burt for being behind significant internet outages across the British overseas territory and another government in the Caribbean, reports The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.