Security News > 2022 > January > Destructive Wiper Targeting Ukraine Aimed at Eroding Trust, Experts Say
Russia is positioned for a hot-war attack on Ukraine that the Biden administration warned could come "At any point" - but the country is already suffering an attack of a different kind.
The perpetrators are taking pains to make the attacks look like a ransomware attack, even providing a ransom note.
"We do not know the current stage of this attacker's operational cycle or how many other victim organizations may exist in Ukraine or other geographic locations," the MSTIC alert added.
Silas Cutler, threat analyst at Stairwell, told Threatpost that the phony ransomware amount demanded in the attacks is ridiculously low by industry standards, further indicating that the attacks were never about the cash.
"The reported use of destructive malware, using ransomware as a cover, is a tactic that's been previously observed in Russian attacks against Ukrainian organizations such as in the Ukraine blackout and NotPetya attacks in 2015 to 2017.".
"Russia wants the rest of the world to see that they are planning significant military activity in Ukraine and their tactics involve an attack on all fronts: 100,000 troops and military equipment build-up on the border, planting insurgents to stage a 'false-flag' operation, and cyber-attacks on Kyiv's government computer systems," Dr. Rehman told Threatpost.