Security News > 2023 > January > Cybersecurity in 2023: Russian escalation, Chinese espionage, Iranian “hacktivism”
Groups tied to the Russian intelligence services will also continue to target geographic neighbors with disinformation campaigns, intelligence gathering, and possibly low-level disruptive attacks.
Traditional espionage targets will continue to be a focus; for example, we saw evidence in August 2022 of Russian intelligence services using spear phishing emails to target staff at the Argonne and Brookhaven national laboratories in the US, which conduct cutting edge energy research.
China will continue to prioritize political and economic cyber espionage.
The newly re-elected Xi Jinping and his Chinese Communist Party will continue to use its intelligence apparatus to help meet broader economic and social objectives as it strives to maintain control.
Surveillance of dissident groups and individuals critical of the Chinese government will also continue, including through ongoing targeting of international non-governmental organizations.
The reality is that attackers will continue to use the least sophisticated techniques, as "Traditional" tools and techniques continue to be effective.