www.darkreading.com Open in urlscan Pro
2606:4700::6811:7663  Public Scan

Form analysis
0 forms found in the DOM

Text Content

The Edge
DR Tech
Sections
Close
Back
Sections
Featured Sections
The Edge
Dark Reading Technology
Attacks / Breaches

Cloud

ICS/OT

Remote Workforce

Perimeter

Analytics
Security Monitoring

Security Monitoring
App Sec
Database Security

Database Security
Risk
Compliance

Compliance
Threat Intelligence

Endpoint
AuthenticationMobile SecurityPrivacy

AuthenticationMobile SecurityPrivacy
Vulnerabilities / Threats
Advanced ThreatsInsider ThreatsVulnerability Management

Advanced ThreatsInsider ThreatsVulnerability Management
Operations
Identity & Access ManagementCareers & People

Identity & Access ManagementCareers & People
Physical Security

IoT

Black Hat news
Omdia Research
Security Now
Events
Close
Back
Events
Events
 * Emerging Cybersecurity Technologies - A Dark Reading Mar 23 Event
   
 * Black Hat USA - August 5-10 - Learn More
   

Webinars
 * Shoring Up the Software Supply Chain Across Enterprise Applications
   Feb 28, 2023
 * How Firewalls Fit With Modern Enterprise Security
   Mar 09, 2023

Resources
Close
Back
Resources
Reports >
Slideshows >
Tech Library >
Webinars >
White Papers >
Partner Perspectives: Microsoft
Partner Perspectives: Zscaler

Newsletter

The Edge
DR Tech
Sections
Close
Back
Sections
Featured Sections
The Edge
Dark Reading Technology
Attacks / Breaches

Cloud

ICS/OT

Remote Workforce

Perimeter

Analytics
Security Monitoring

Security Monitoring
App Sec
Database Security

Database Security
Risk
Compliance

Compliance
Threat Intelligence

Endpoint
AuthenticationMobile SecurityPrivacy

AuthenticationMobile SecurityPrivacy
Vulnerabilities / Threats
Advanced ThreatsInsider ThreatsVulnerability Management

Advanced ThreatsInsider ThreatsVulnerability Management
Operations
Identity & Access ManagementCareers & People

Identity & Access ManagementCareers & People
Physical Security

IoT

Black Hat news
Omdia Research
Security Now
Events
Close
Back
Events
Events
 * Emerging Cybersecurity Technologies - A Dark Reading Mar 23 Event
   
 * Black Hat USA - August 5-10 - Learn More
   

Webinars
 * Shoring Up the Software Supply Chain Across Enterprise Applications
   Feb 28, 2023
 * How Firewalls Fit With Modern Enterprise Security
   Mar 09, 2023

Resources
Close
Back
Resources
Reports >
Slideshows >
Tech Library >
Webinars >
White Papers >
Partner Perspectives: Microsoft
Partner Perspectives: Zscaler
The Edge
DR Tech
Sections
Close
Back
Sections
Featured Sections
The Edge
Dark Reading Technology
Attacks / Breaches

Cloud

ICS/OT

Remote Workforce

Perimeter

Analytics
Security Monitoring

Security Monitoring
App Sec
Database Security

Database Security
Risk
Compliance

Compliance
Threat Intelligence

Endpoint
AuthenticationMobile SecurityPrivacy

AuthenticationMobile SecurityPrivacy
Vulnerabilities / Threats
Advanced ThreatsInsider ThreatsVulnerability Management

Advanced ThreatsInsider ThreatsVulnerability Management
Operations
Identity & Access ManagementCareers & People

Identity & Access ManagementCareers & People
Physical Security

IoT

Black Hat news
Omdia Research
Security Now
Events
Close
Back
Events
Events
 * Emerging Cybersecurity Technologies - A Dark Reading Mar 23 Event
   
 * Black Hat USA - August 5-10 - Learn More
   

Webinars
 * Shoring Up the Software Supply Chain Across Enterprise Applications
   Feb 28, 2023
 * How Firewalls Fit With Modern Enterprise Security
   Mar 09, 2023

Resources
Close
Back
Resources
Reports >
Slideshows >
Tech Library >
Webinars >
White Papers >
Partner Perspectives: Microsoft
Partner Perspectives: Zscaler

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Newsletter
SEARCH
A minimum of 3 characters are required to be typed in the search bar in order to
perform a search.




Announcements
 1. 
 2. 

Event
Emerging Cybersecurity Technologies: What You Need to Know - A Dark Reading
March 23 Virtual Event | <GET YOUR PASS>
Report
Black Hat USA 2022 Attendee Report | Supply Chain & Cloud Security Risks Are Top
of Mind | <READ IT NOW>
PreviousNext

Cybersecurity In-Depth


Edge Threat Monitor

4 MIN READ

The Edge



EVALUATING THE CYBERWAR SET OFF BY RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE

Preparation and cooperation helped to mitigate the worst of the digital damage,
amid cyber sorties from all sides.
Fahmida Y. Rashid
Managing Editor, Features, Dark Reading
February 24, 2023
Source: Cloudflare
PDF


When Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, much discussion ensued about how
the war would be both cyber and kinetic. A year later, the consensus seems to be
that while there was a lot of cyberattack activity, it wasn't as destructive as
many had feared. That was partly due to various governments and security
companies helping to identify and block attacks.



Between February 2022 and February 2023, an average of 10% of all online traffic
to Ukraine was mitigations of potential attacks, Cloudflare said in its analysis
of the Russian invasion's impact on theUkrainian Internet. Cloudflare protected
Ukrainian Web applications by filtering and monitoring HTTP traffic to block
malicious attacks, including distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.

On Oct. 29, DDoS attack traffic constituted 39% of total traffic to Cloudflare's
Ukrainian customers.



The company shared a graph showing the daily percentage of application layer
traffic to Ukraine that Cloudflare mitigated as potential attacks using its Web
application firewall (WAF). In early March, 30% of all traffic was mitigated.
After a fairly quiet summer, attack activity ticked back up in early September,
during the Ukrainian counteroffensive in east and south Ukraine.



More specifically, 14% of total traffic from Ukraine was mitigated as potential
attacks, while 10% of total traffic to Ukraine was mitigated as potential
attacks in the past 12 months.

Mitigated application-layer threats blocked by Cloudflare's WAF were 105% higher
on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022 — four days after the invasion — compared with the
Monday before, Feb. 21, 2022. By March 8, that figure was 1,300%.


WHAT CAME OUT OF 'SHIELDS UP'

In anticipation of Russian cyberattacks against Ukrainian targets and against
organizations in countries allied with Ukraine, the US Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) urged organizations to share information
that could help mitigate threats. "Every organization — large and small — must
be prepared to respond to disruptive cyber incidents," CISA said.

While sharing threat intelligence indubitably helped, the nature of the attacks
were also less sophisticated or destructive than feared.



Cisco Talos researchers have been monitoring critical infrastructure customers
to identify threats and remediate attacks. While there were a lot of concerns
about destructive malware, what Talos is seeing — and blocking — a lot of is
credentials harvesting, says Nick Biasini, Cisco Talos' head of outreach.
Attackers are not resorting to highly sophisticated tactics but rather are
employing mundane and recognizable methods to try to gain access to networks and
accounts, he says.


IMPACT ON CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Cloudflare's analysis of Ukraine's Internet traffic shows peaks and drops in
usage corresponding with military activity. For example, the city of Chernihiv
had a significant drop in traffic the first week of the war and residual traffic
by mid-March, with traffic picking up after the Russian retreat in early April,
Cloudflare noted. In the fall, Russian military units started targeting
Ukrainian critical infrastructure, causing widespread power outages and Internet
blackouts. Some of these strikes caused as much as a 50% decrease in Internet
traffic, according to Cloudflare's analysis. The disruptions often lasted only a
day or two, "further emphasizing the ongoing impact of the conflict on Ukraine's
infrastructure," Cloudflare noted.

"Throughout the rest of the year and into 2023, Ukraine has continued to face
intermittent Internet disruptions," Cloudflare also wrote.


RIPPLE EFFECTS AROUND THE WORLD

Security leaders in East Asia are carefully watching how the war between Russia
and Ukraine unfolds, as a lot of the geopolitical tensions and rhetoric are
similar to the long-simmering situation between China and Taiwan. Organizations
are "wondering what kind of disruptive attacks to expect" and how the war in
Ukraine could affect the Taiwan situation, says Mihoko Matsubara, chief
cybersecurity strategist at NTT. There has already been some activity, although
it has been of the "cyber nuisance" variety, rather than destruction, Matsubara
says. East Asian companies are already seeing DDoS attacks, defacements, and
disinformation campaigns, she says.

Matsubara was careful not to downplay the seriousness of the attacks, as they
are still disruptive to organizations. NTT has also seen some wiper attacks used
to disrupt humanitarian aid efforts, which may be a harbinger of activities to
come.


BAD ACTORS GET POLITICAL

Cybercriminals have been expressing their own opinions — and political
allegiances — about the war. For example, Coalition's latest "Cyber Threat
Index" report dug into attacks against databases exposed to the Internet.
Coalition observed a total 264,408 IP addresses running MongoDB instances in
2022, and 68,423 of them — or 26% — were compromised. Coalition found a handful
of compromised MongoDB servers where the attackers renamed the databases to
SLAVA_UKRAINI, or "Glory to Ukraine!"

"Threat actor activity is often shaped by fluctuations in economic conditions,"
noted the team from Kroll's Cyber Risk practice in the latest "Threat Landscape"
report. "Due to the continued market volatility across the globe and the ongoing
war on Ukraine, it is likely that the unstable circumstances in which attackers
thrive will persist in 2023."

EdgeEdge Articles
Keep up with the latest cybersecurity threats, newly-discovered vulnerabilities,
data breach information, and emerging trends. Delivered daily or weekly right to
your email inbox.
Subscribe
More Insights
White Papers
 * 
   Why Account Security Doesn't Stop at Login
 * 
   Securing OT, Remote Access and Converged SOC Operations

More White Papers
Webinars
 * 
   Shoring Up the Software Supply Chain Across Enterprise Applications
 * 
   How Firewalls Fit With Modern Enterprise Security

More Webinars
Reports
 * 
   The Promise and Reality of Cloud Security
 * 
   10 Hot Talks From Black Hat USA 2022

More Reports

More Insights
White Papers
 * 
   Why Account Security Doesn't Stop at Login
 * 
   Securing OT, Remote Access and Converged SOC Operations

More White Papers
Webinars
 * 
   Shoring Up the Software Supply Chain Across Enterprise Applications
 * 
   How Firewalls Fit With Modern Enterprise Security

More Webinars
Reports
 * 
   The Promise and Reality of Cloud Security
 * 
   10 Hot Talks From Black Hat USA 2022

More Reports

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

 * Interop
 * InformationWeek
 * Network Computing
 * ITPro Today

 * Data Center Knowledge
 * Black Hat
 * Omdia

WORKING WITH US

 * About Us
 * Advertise
 * Reprints

FOLLOW DARK READING ON SOCIAL

 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 


 * Home
 * Cookies
 * Privacy
 * Terms



Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC Informa UK Limited is a company registered in
England and Wales with company number 1072954 whose registered office is 5
Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.





Cookies Button


ABOUT COOKIES ON THIS SITE

We and our partners use cookies to enhance your website experience, learn how
our site is used, offer personalised features, measure the effectiveness of our
services, and tailor content and ads to your interests while you navigate on the
web or interact with us across devices. You can choose to accept all of these
cookies or only essential cookies. To learn more or manage your preferences,
click “Settings”. For further information about the data we collect from you,
please see our Privacy Policy

Accept All
Settings



COOKIE PREFERENCE CENTER

When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information on your
browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you,
your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you
expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can
give you a more personalized web experience. Because we respect your right to
privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies. Click on the
different category headings to find out more and change our default settings.
However, blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site
and the services we are able to offer.
More information
Allow All


MANAGE CONSENT PREFERENCES

STRICTLY NECESSARY COOKIES

Always Active

These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched
off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you
which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy
preferences, logging in or filling in forms.    You can set your browser to
block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then
work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.

Cookies Details‎

PERFORMANCE COOKIES

Performance Cookies

These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and
improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the
most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site.    All
information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you
do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and
will not be able to monitor its performance.

Cookies Details‎

FUNCTIONAL COOKIES

Functional Cookies

These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and
personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose
services we have added to our pages.    If you do not allow these cookies then
some or all of these services may not function properly.

Cookies Details‎

TARGETING COOKIES

Targeting Cookies

These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may
be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you
relevant adverts on other sites.    They do not store directly personal
information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet
device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted
advertising.

Cookies Details‎
Back Button


BACK



Search Icon
Filter Icon

Clear
checkbox label label
Apply Cancel
Consent Leg.Interest
checkbox label label
checkbox label label
checkbox label label

 * 
   
   View Cookies
   
    * Name
      cookie name

Confirm My Choices