Their forces are at the disposal of his military intelligence forces. Russia According to Google researchers, more and more hackers and online activists from all over the world are raising them.

In recent months, Mandiant, Google’s cybersecurity team, has noticed a connection between pro-Russian hacker groups and cyber attacks from GRUspy agency of the Russian army.

In four cases, we used “wiper” malware to kill and destroy elements of entire networks and computing systems.

But how do hacker activists get into the picture?hacktivists); Within 24 hours from the date of deletion of data from the affected organizations, they publish by their own means.

Three pro-Russian hacker groups are reportedly involved. These: XakNet Team, Information Center as well as CyberArmyofRussia_Reborn.

According to Mandiant, we are talking about unprecedented status: “Never before have we recorded so many cyberattacks, so many different actors and such coordination of efforts lasting many months.”

“They might even turn off our lights.”

Why is it important? Western officials and security experts want to know if the Kremlin has links to such groups so they can understand Moscow’s intentions both inside and outside of Ukraine.

Through such groups, Russia presents itself as a single entity. threatening online and at the same time can deny any involvement in “hits,” according to Michael S. Rogers, a former head of the US National Security Agency (NSA) who now works in the private sector.

Mandiant vice president for intelligence analysis John Hultquist stressed that Russian intelligence could use such groups for more serious purposes. serious business in cyberspace.

“We must not underestimate the GRU. They might even turn off our lights. We should not ignore his ties to such hacktivist groups,” he notes.

Cyber ​​attacks in the US and beyond

The US Department of Homeland Security published warning the previous spring, calling her xaknet and another group, killer, as much as possible US infrastructure threat. He also said that due to the war in Ukraine, attacks from criminal groups and hacktivists are likely to increase.

Killnet attacked a number of targets in countries such as Japan, Italy, Norway, Estonia and Lithuania. He usually attacks DDoS – i.e., it “floods” the target’s servers with excessive internet traffic, causing them to “crash”.

The group has collaborated with XakNet in the past and has given interviews to Russian media in recent months. Some analysts believe that this is what they may want – her media attention – and they don’t pose such a big threat.

On the other hand, it is alarming that both the United States and European countries close to Russia (in particular, Lithuania and Estonia) have recently become the target of cyberattacks.

In July, the Congress.gov page was down for two hours due to a DDoS attack. In August, Killnet attacked Lockheed Martin, and in the same month released files from a company that makes printed circuit boards for the defense industry.

According to the WSJ