The United Kingdom warns companies that due to the situation in Ukraine, they must be aware of cyberattacks. Companies are called on by the British National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) to tighten the security of their computer systems.
Tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine have risen sharply in recent times. Russia demands guarantees that the Eastern European country can never join NATO, but it has not received them. Moscow has sent a large army to the border with Ukraine, and there are fears of an invasion in western capitals.
The British NCSC says it investigates reports of recent cyber incidents in Ukraine. These would be similar to the way Russia has operated in the past. “Such as with the devastating NotPetya attack in 2017 and cyber attacks against Georgia.” The British believe that Russian hackers were responsible for this.
The NotPetya ransomware also hit companies in the Netherlands at the time. It was able to spread via automatic updates of a Ukrainian program and, among other things, shut down computer systems in the port of Rotterdam.
The NCSC says it has no indications that hackers have specifically targeted British companies because of the situation in Ukraine. Nevertheless, organizations are called upon to take measures that can reduce the risk of major damage in the event of a cyberattack, such as making backups.