Five Eyes authorities issue warning against Russia-backed cyberattacks on critical infrastructure

We’ve reported before that US authorities have been warning against imminent cyberattacks from Russia. This time, it’s the cybersecurity authorities from the Five Eyes – Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, plus the USA – who are warning of the risk that cyberattacks are being planned against critical infrastructures in Ukraine and beyond.

The warning comes in a joint cybersecurity advisory, which refers to US intelligence that the Russian government may be exploring options for potential cyberattacks.

The advisory also notes that cybercrime groups that have recently publicly pledged support for the Russian government ‘have threatened to conduct cyber operations in retaliation for perceived cyber offensives against the Russian government or the Russian people.’ The same threat exists for countries and organisations helping Ukraine.

DDoS attack takes Israeli government websites down

Several government websites in Israel – including the websites of the ministries of interior, defence, and justice – were unavailable for over an hour on 14 March. The incident was caused by a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack against a communications provider, according to the country’s National Cyber Directorate. Access to the affected websites was restored later in the day.

No statements were made regarding attribution of the attack, although some media sources pointed to a possible Iranian involvement.