Arctic Wolf comments on revelations of Russian cyberattacks against the British government

The British and US governments imposed sanctions on two Russian hackers on Thursday in what Britain’s Foreign Office called a continuing but failed attempt by Russian cyber spies to meddle in politics.

Adam Murray, Chief Information Security Officer Arctic wolf There are many views on disclosure.

“Gold River”, a hacker group of cyber security researchers working on behalf of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), has targeted British politicians, journalists and non-profit groups for years, the Foreign Office said in a statement. He said Britain had summoned the Russian ambassador over the matter.

In January of this year, Reuters exclusively reported that Gold River had targeted three nuclear research laboratories in the United States. In a telephone conference on Thursday, a senior US official confirmed that an employee of the Gold River Energy Department had been successfully hacked. [Anm: som bland annat ansvarar för USA:s strategiska kärnvapen].

Moscow said there was no evidence to support allegations of a digital espionage campaign, Russian officials said later Thursday. Russia’s Foreign Ministry has previously dismissed Reuters’ coverage of Cold River as anti-Russian propaganda.

The group, also known as “Callisto” or “Star Blizzard”, first appeared on the radar of intelligence officials after targeting the British Foreign Office in 2016. It was also behind the leak of private emails belonging to former British spy chief Richard. Dear in 2022.

A January Reuters report, based on research by Internet and five cybersecurity experts, revealed that much of the digital infrastructure used by Gold River was built by a 36-year-old man. An IT employee named Andrei Korinets. In the city of Syktyvkar in northern Russia.

Adam Murray, Chief Information Security Officer Arctic Wolf:

– The UK government’s recent revelations about Russia’s cyber-attacks targeting politicians and other leading public figures should come as no surprise. We’ve known for a long time that countries like Russia are trying to undermine confidence in upcoming elections, and even if the current campaign is considered a failure, it’s too early to overstate the danger. Hostile foreign powers will seek new ways to continue their influence campaigns.

– With generative AI tools, it’s easier than ever to create fake content and images, meaning the risk of misinformation increases ahead of next year’s UK election. Successfully exposing these campaigns will help raise public awareness, but we all need to be careful about the messages we perceive online and verify claims with reliable news sources.

– Responsible officials and politicians must take action to protect our democratic institutions. Among other things, it ensures that networks are as well protected as possible through continuous testing and improvements. By partnering with trusted external experts, teams can identify weaknesses and take the necessary steps to address them.

– When it comes to central events like general elections, half measures are not enough. Doubts about the fairness of the electoral process can create conflicts that hostile actors can exploit for their own ends.