'Five Eyes' Members Issue Global Advisory vs Russian Cyberthreats

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National Security Agency (NSA) have called on European nations to arm themselves with the best tools to neutralize threats of Russian hackers and crime gangs against their computer and communications systems.

Photo Insert: The advisory recommends several immediate actions for all organizations to take to protect their networks against Russian cyberattacks.

CISA, FBI, and NSA worked with the Australian Cyber Security Center (ACSC), Canadian Center for Cyber Security (CCCS), National Cyber Security Center New Zealand (NZ NCSC) and the United Kingdom's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC-UK), and National Crime Agency (NCA), as well as with industry members of the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative.

They issued a joint Cybersecurity Advisory on Russian state-sponsored and criminal cyber threats to critical infrastructure that could impact organizations both within and beyond Ukraine. It is the most comprehensive view of the cyber threat posed by Russia to critical infrastructure released by government cyber experts since the invasion of Ukraine in February.

The advisory provides technical details on malicious cyber operations by actors from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Russian General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), and Russian Ministry of Defense, Central Scientific Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics (TsNIIKhM).

It also includes details on Russian-aligned cyber threat groups and cybercrime groups. Some of these cybercrime groups have recently publicly pledged support for the Russian government and have threatened to conduct cyber operations in retaliation for perceived cyber offensives against Russia or against countries or organizations providing material support to Ukraine.

The advisory recommends several immediate actions for all organizations to take to protect their networks, which include: Prioritize patching of known exploited vulnerabilities; enforcing multifactor authentication; monitoring remote desktop protocol (RDP), and; providing end-user awareness and training.

"We know that malicious cyber activity is part of the Russian playbook. We also know that the Russian government is exploring options for potential cyberattacks against US critical infrastructure. Today's cybersecurity advisory released jointly by CISA and our interagency and international partners reinforces the demonstrated threat and capability of Russian state-sponsored and Russian aligned cyber-criminal groups to our Homeland," said CISA Director Jen Easterly.

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