Moscow has tired and will take measures
According to the White House, Russian penetration attempts in nuclear power plants and large electrical and hydraulic infrastructures are increasing. The infiltration has not led to any sabotage to date. However, it has served to make clear to Western intelligence services that the Kremlin has the ability to push the lever and cause a catastrophe.
This possibility is seen by the Pentagon as a threat of such caliber that has led it to include it among the triggers of a nuclear response. Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are in the spotlight. According to a report by the US National Security Directorate, the potential for a surprise attack will increase in the coming years as digital devices will continue to connect to a network of poor security and that both nations and evil actors have increased their ability to use cyber tools.
Companies, state and private organizations, critical infrastructures, all will be a point of exhaustive scrutiny. A group of hackers monitored by the Kremlin have launched a gigantic cyberespionage campaign and infected millions of computers around the world in preparation for a future offensive. The United States and the United Kingdom have released this devastating warning in a joint appearance in which, without offering specific data of affected companies or agencies, they emphasized that from now on and in the future, they will respond publicly to these alleged attacks. The Russian cyber-attack, activated more than a year ago, has as its main purpose and according to American and British considerations, to take positions for times of tension.
One of its preferred targets are routers, devices whose control allows the pirates to launch screen attacks -man in the middle-, in which the intruder is placed between two users and intercepts all their messages, being able to infiltrate the ones they want without being detected.
According to the FBI specialist Howard Marshall, when you have the router, you control all the traffic and you can have the necessary keys and identifications to go deeper. It is a very delicate weapon in the hands of the enemy. As the control over the router allows them to spy and steal intellectual property, as well as prepare your jump for subsequent offensives.
Despite the entity of the alert, neither Washington nor London provided details of the cyber-offensive. With the generic tone of intelligence reports plastered for public exposure, they announced that in this campaign have been infiltrated millions of computers of individuals and small companies with the purpose of serving as a platform for future destabilizing operations.
According to the special adviser to the president in cybersecurity, Rob Joyce, from now on, whenever they detect a malignant cyber attack, be it from the Kremlin or from another nation, they will respond and use all the available power to push back these intrusions. The fear of a cyberattack has become an obsession for the US security services. In May of 2017, the world witnessed a devastating example. 300,000 people from 17 countries fell victim to the WannaCry virus. Far from being the work of isolated hackers, the National Security Agency (NSA) concluded that it was an operation controlled by North Korea. A regime that in 2015 assaulted the multinational Sony Pictures to avoid the dissemination of a film that ridiculed the Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-un.