Czech Republic records a record number of cyber incidents, most attacks come from Russian-speaking hackers

The National Agency for Cyber and Information Security of the Czech Republic stated that there were 268 cyber incidents in 2024, six more than in 2023, Radio Prague International reported.

DDoS attacks were the most common type of attack that targeted system availability, the report says.

"Russian-speaking hacker groups are behind most of these attacks, which is a significant trend since Russia's invasion of Ukraine," emphasized the director of the agency, Lukáš Kintr.

UK sees an increase in hostile activity in its cyberspace

According to previous reports, the UK is seeing an increase in hostile activity in its cyberspace: in 2024, officials will deal with 16% more incidents than they did the year before.

The British government has warned that Russia is prepared to launch a "wave of cyber attacks" against the country, which could potentially "turn off the lights for millions of people."

Poland warned about threats of cyberattacks from Russia

Poland is also warning about the threat of cyberattacks from Russia. Deputy Prime Minister of Poland, Minister of Digitalization Krzysztof Gawkowski, said that Russia is no longer hiding that it is in a state of cyberwar with Poland.

He said this at the opening of the Digital Skills Summit conference, quoted by TVN24. As Gawkowski stated, Russia is no longer concealing its involvement in a cyberwar with Poland; it is "attacking and doing it deliberately."

Krzysztof Gawkowski claims that Poland detected twice as many cybersecurity incidents in 2024 as in 2023 and three times more than in 2022. He states that Russia, in particular, clearly directed a significant portion of these incidents toward Poland.

Gawkowski underscored that Russian attacks exploit vulnerabilities in Polish infrastructure.

"A significant part of them is clearly directed at Poland from Russia. Russia no longer hides that it is in a state of cyberwar with Poland. They attack and do it deliberately. They know where we have weaknesses," the Polish minister said.

German intelligence warned about threat from Russian GRU hacker group

Last fall, the German intelligence warned about threats coming from a cyber group linked to the 29155 unit of Russia’s military intelligence agency (GRU) due to its suspected involvement in a series of cyberattacks targeting NATO and the EU.

The warning was part of a coordinated effort with international agencies, including the FBI, U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the NSA, according to a report by Reuters.

The intelligence agencies accused the group of conducting espionage and sabotage, often damaging websites and leaking stolen data as part of its operations. 

These attacks, the agencies noted, are part of a broader pattern of cyber aggression aimed at destabilising Western institutions and extracting sensitive information.

European intelligence warned that Russia intensified sabotage operations

Earlier, European intelligence services had warned that Russia had intensified sabotage operations. The Financial Times has reported this.

European intelligence officials believe that the Russian Federation has already begun to more actively prepare covert bombings, arson attacks, and damage to infrastructure on European territory, both directly and through front persons.

The publication has reviewed assessments by the intelligence agencies of three European countries, which indicate the preparation of more aggressive and coordinated efforts to carry out sabotage actions.

Six Russians charged in the US with cyberattacks on Ukraine and NATO

Last September, the United States indicted six Russian citizens who it said were involved in large-scale cyberattacks against Ukraine and NATO countries ahead of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. This was reported in a statement by the US Department of Justice.

Five out of six defendants are officers of the 29155 unit of Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), the military intelligence of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.

Prior to Russia's full-scale invasion, on January 13, 2022, Russian hackers carried out a large-scale cyberattack on the computer systems of dozens of Ukrainian government agencies. As alleged in the indictment, Ukrainian computer networks were infected with WhisperGate malware under the guise of ransomware. 

In fact, WhisperGate was a cyber weapon designed to completely destroy the target computer and its associated data. The attackers managed to steal confidential data, including medical records, which they put up for sale online.