This Is The Most Feared Cyber Attack From Russia, Up To IDR 63 Billion In Losses

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine does not only occur in the real world, but also in cyberspace, cyber attacks. (photo: doc. unsplash)

JAKARTA - The conflict between Russia and Ukraine does not only occur in the real world, but also in cyberspace, cyber attacks are carried out by Russia.

However, it is not only Ukraine that is being targeted by Russia, other countries that support Ukraine such as the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) are also claimed to have been affected by this cyber attack.

While it's not yet proven whether it came from Russia, US President Joe Biden has asked private companies and organizations in the country to lock their digital doors.

Biden claims that intelligence shows Russia is planning a cyber attack on the US. The UK's cyber authorities have also backed the White House's call for increased cybersecurity precautions, although none have provided evidence that Russia is planning a cyberattack.

Russia has previously declared the allegations to be Russophobia. Still, Russia is a cyber superpower with a sophisticated arsenal of cyber tools, and has hackers capable of carrying out disruptive and potentially destructive cyberattacks.

So for further details, here are some of the most feared incidents of cyber attacks, quoted by VOI from BBC International, Wednesday, March 23.

1. BlackEnergy

It is a targeted critical infrastructure attack. Ukraine has often been described as the playground of Russian hacking, which it claims is frequent with attacks there, aiming to simply test techniques and tools.

In 2015, Ukraine's power grid was disrupted by a cyberattack called BlackEnergy, causing short-term blackouts for 80,000 utility company customers in western Ukraine.

Almost exactly a year later another cyberattack known as the Industroyer took power out of about a fifth of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, for about an hour. As a result of this attack, the US and EU blamed Russian military hackers.

2. NotPetya

Described as uncontrollable destruction. NotPetya is considered the most expensive cyber attack in history. Even the US, UK, and EU authorities flocked to blame a group of Russian military hackers.

The malware was hidden in an update to accounting software used in Ukraine, but spread around the world, destroying the computer systems of thousands of companies and causing an estimated $10 billion in damage.

A month before the NotPetya incident, North Korea was accused of causing a major disturbance with a similar attack. Dubbed the WannaCry Worm, the virus scrambled data on about 300,000 computers in 150 countries, forcing the UK's National Health Service to cancel a large number of medical appointments.

However, computer scientist Prof Alan Woodward, from the University of Surrey, said such attacks also carry risks for Russia.

“This type of uncontrolled hacking is more like biological warfare, because it is very difficult to target certain critical infrastructure in certain places. WannaCry and NotPetya also saw victims in Russia," Woodward said.

3. Colonial Pipeline

In May 2021, a state of emergency was declared in a number of US states after hackers caused a much-needed oil pipeline to close.

The Colonial Pipeline carries 45 percent of the east coast's supply of diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel and that supply is causing panic at the pumps. This attack was carried out not by Russian government hackers, but by the DarkSide ransomware group, which is allegedly based in Russia.

The pipeline company admitted to paying criminals $4.4 million in hard-to-trace Bitcoins to recover computer systems.

A few weeks later the meat supply was affected when another ransomware crew called REvil attacked JBS, the world's largest beef processor.

One of the biggest fears experts have about Russia's cyber capabilities is that the Kremlin could instruct cybercrime groups to coordinate attacks against US targets, which could maximize disruption.

"The benefit of instructing cyber criminals to carry out ransomware attacks is the common havoc they can cause. In large enough quantities, they can cause serious economic damage," Woodward said.

"It also comes with the added bonus of plausible denial because these groups are a step removed from attacks by the Russian state."