Cisco recently stated that, hackers have hacked over 500000 routers as well as other storage devices across multiple countries. The malware attack was targeted towards Ukraine. In all probability, it was orchestrated by Russia.
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Details of the attack:
Talos cyber intelligence unit of the company stated that Russian government is behind the attack. The name of the attack is VPNfilter. The code of the hacking software is similar to software which was used in the earlier attack. That software was associated with the Russia. This is the reason why the cyber intelligence department believes that this attack also has the backing of Russia.
According to Cisco, the malware can easily spy on the devices. It can also interfere with the Internet connectivity. As a result, it can launch destructive attacks on the target. Previously as well, Russia has been associated with such attacks. Such attacks can even take the energy grid off-line or shut down big industrial plants as well. According to the cyber intelligence unit, such a large attack can easily be used to attack various offices and servers.
Russian denials:
On the other hand, Russia has denied that it is behind the malware attack. However, sources state that Russia is building up a global hacking program at a massive scale. In the future, they might use it for not just attacking Ukraine’s economy but also for other various purposes as well.
Malware attacks:
The main aim of the malware attack is to impact the electric grid. If indeed, the electric grid is impacted, automatically the economic impact will be pretty huge. The cyber threat alliance is a non-profit organization which is gathering such information on the malware attacks and sharing them with the concerned parties in order to ensure that they are able to prepare for it. According to CEO of CTA, this attack should be taken very seriously. The reason for this is that the capacity of the attack is significant. This is the reason why it can no longer be ignored.
Infected devices scattered across the globe:
The total number of infected devices is around 500000. However, they are scattered around 54 different countries. This is one of the main reasons why it is becoming difficult to detect these devices and to detect the attack. On the other hand, the malware code also consists of a self-destruct feature. This will ensure that hackers will not have to manually initiate the self-destruct sequence. The self-destruct sequence will wipe out the software on the infected devices. As a result, tracking down the malware attack will actually be a pretty difficult task.
It is high time that countries take the threat of mass cyber-attacks seriously.
