Matthew RosenquistFounder & CISO Advisor, Cybersecurity Insights · CISO, Cybersecurity Strategist, & Industry Advisor

Is Russia Testing the Waters in Cyberattacks Against the US

12 Oct 2022 · 4 min

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3:33

In this strategic commentary, the speaker examines recent Russian‑linked cyber activity, focusing on the pro‑Kremlin hacker group Killnet’s denial‑of‑service attacks against U.S. state government websites, a U.S. Congress site, and several airport public pages. While the attacks have been relatively weak, the speaker notes that the cybersecurity community has long warned that Russia’s cyber capabilities could grow as the war in Ukraine continues. CISA Director Jen Easterly is cited as expressing concern that President Putin may eventually target America’s critical infrastructure. The speaker hypothesizes a staged escalation: starting with DDoS attacks, moving to data breaches that enable phishing, then limited direct attacks, followed by supply‑chain compromises affecting many critical‑infrastructure entities, and ultimately destructive wiper attacks that could cause severe downtime or loss of life. The commentary frames these actions as Russia testing the limits of U.S. and NATO response thresholds, driven by desperation over the Ukraine conflict, and urges viewers to consider the implications.

Chapters

Is Russia testing the waters in cyberattacks against the United States? Russian-speaking hackers conducted denial-of-service attacks on state government websites in Kentucky, Mississippi, Colorado, and other states recently. This group known as Killnet also temporarily brought down a U.S. Congress website earlier in the year. Killnet is pro-Kremlin and has targeted other NATO countries as well. Now this week, this group targeted public websites of several US airports but didn't cause any real disruption to travelers. Overall, these attacks have been pretty weak. The cybersecurity community has been warning of the risks of real attacks coming from Russia and its proxies ever since the Russia-Ukraine war began. And after a dismal showing right after the invasion, Russian hackers have had to reorganize. Now, Jen Easterly, director of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, stated she thinks there is a concern about Putin escalating specifically with attacks against America's critical infrastructure. And over the past several months, Russian cyber threats have likely regained the ability to launch significant attacks. But I suspect that they're just testing the waters right now. You see, they know the US and other NATO countries are not only watching and waiting, but have aggressive response packages ready to unleash. So I believe they are starting slow and testing how far they can impact the West without serious reprisals. I expect this tactic to escalate. It is starting with denial of service attacks. Soon, I think it'll move to data breaches to support phishing, then direct attacks against those specific but not too significant targets. We may then see a supply chain attack that exposes many important critical infrastructure organizations, but still little in the way of longstanding intended damage. And lastly, if Putin wants to push the red button, he will order attacks against vital critical infrastructure organizations, and wipers will be deployed for serious downtime and potential even loss of life. Now, I hope this nonsense doesn't escalate down this path, but as Russia continues to fail with their attempts to conquer Ukraine, Putin will become more desperate and want to lash out at Ukraine's biggest international supporters. Cyber attacks are a great tool for that, which puts all of us in the crosshairs. Let me know what you think in the comments below, and if you like this video, click the like button and consider subscribing to the channel for more strategic insights and discussions.