Global Impact
That said, Ukraine’s defence efforts remain strong, and with continued collaboration with international partners, the public and private sectors, the country will continue to reinforce its cyber security strategy. Going forward, an understanding of the key APTs and hacktivist groups should support their defence measures.
Whilst much of the events were concentrated in Ukraine and Russia, the international nature of the war has led to spill over effects also reflected by cyber activity. Countries seen to support Ukraine have continued to feel the wrath of Russian threat actors. For example, Microsoft observed Cadet Blizzard targeting Latin American and European companies, particularly NATO countries, providing military support to Ukraine. In addition, Russia’s disinformation campaigns seek to garner support for the state beyond its borders where spreading a pro-Russian narrative at international scale. This has included narratives of Western Russophobia, Ukrainian Nazi ideology and the negative impact of Ukrainian refugees in Europe spread via fake social media accounts. Overall, the international impact will likely see the continued targeting of Ukrainian supporters, NATO countries, and the spread of disinformation to boost Russian backing.
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
The ongoing war between Israel and Palestine has predominantly shed light on hacktivist activities, although debate as to whether nation states are already involved has been raised. Certainly, there is the possibility that APTs may adopt a more proactive role in cyber activity the longer the war unfolds. Groups such as Cyber Avengers, Cyber Toufan and Killnet have been prominent where targeting Israeli infrastructure, demonstrating the international element of the hacktivist community, notably given the latter. Equally, pro-Israeli hacktivists have also been observed targeting Palestinian infrastructure, such as Predatory Sparrow. Similar to Russia-Ukraine, we are observing increasingly non-traditional actors adopt their position in war and provides food for thought where considering the types of threat actors we may increasingly see in future conflicts.
Summary
Overall, in 2023, cyber-attacks have remained an important tool alongside kinetic warfare for both Ukraine and Russia. As part of the broader military strategy, they support operations in the physical world where enhancing disruptive and destructive capabilities, as well as driving key information and influence operations. Russia’s cyberattacks remained persistent, and although their overall impact often not critical, nor their levels of sophistication high, nonetheless the attacks on Kyivstar served as a stark reminder that detrimental attacks remain a possibility.
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