A large-scale cyber attack against Russia was thwarted in recent days by the Moscow Security Services; the FSB gave the news in an official statement. The target of the attack were economic institutions "with the aim of destabilizing the financial system of the Federation, including the activities of some large banks".
Moscow accuses "foreign secret services" but without specifying the nationality. According to the Russian services, the attack also involved the infiltration of social networks and the mobile telephone system in order to disseminate manipulated news of an alleged "crisis of the credit and financial system in Russia, and of the bankruptcy and revocation of licenses of a certain number of banks” in order to unleash panic on the stock exchange.
Moscow's intelligence has identified the servers from which the attack was starting located in the Netherlands, but belonging to a Ukrainian hosting company, Blazing Fast, based in Kiev; the company, which has categorically denied any involvement, in a note on its Facebook profile said it was willing to collaborate with any legal entity to investigate Moscow's allegations.
Already last July, the FSB had identified a very powerful malware infiltrated into the computers of at least 20 Russian state organizations, defense and research structures. The "professionally designed and built" virus was capable of activating cameras and microphones on infected computers, taking documents and keeping track of browsing.
A few days ago, the Central Bank of Russia denounced that, since the beginning of the year, several hacker incursions into the Russian banking system have led to a total loss of 2 billion rubles (about 30 million dollars). In this case, however, the "thefts" would not be attributable to foreign countries but to real "computer thieves" who, by falsifying the access credentials of many customers, have penetrated the reserves of many world banks.
Cyberattacks on Russia appear to have intensified since Washington threatened reprisals for alleged intrusions of Russian hackers into government computers and those of Democratic Party representatives, which exposed compromising facts about Clinton and her aides;
Last October, the Obama administration and the CIA explicitly accused Russia of these hacks which, according to Washington, "were intended to interfere with the US election process". And a few days later, Vice President Joe Biden, interviewed on NBC, announced that the US was ready to give a decisive response against Putin: “We are sending a message to Putin. He will be able to recognize that and that will be when we decide and under the circumstances that will have the greatest possible impact."
What is certain is that Russian President Putin approved the Information Security Doctrine three days ago; the strategic document will serve to organize the Kremlin's defense system in the face of the unlimited use of information, the threats of propaganda manipulation and cyber attacks that can endanger national sovereignty. They all seem to be signs of a global cyber-war perhaps already underway.
