【Reporter Connection】
Guangming Daily correspondent in Helsinki Zhang Zhiyong
In response to Russia's military operations in Ukraine, anonymous, the world's largest hacking organization, recently called on global hackers to launch a "cyber war" against Russia on social networking sites. Anonymous accounts on social networking sites claim that anonymous hacking groups attacked and shut down more than 1,500 websites linked to the Russian and Belarusian governments, state media, major banks and businesses within 72 hours. The move provoked a strong reaction from Russia. The information war provoked by the Network has become another "battlefield filled with gun smoke" in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
Civilian hackers cover up state behavior
According to the Finnish Broadcasting Corporation, Finnish IT practitioner Juni (pseudonym) responded to the call of "Anonymous" and joined the "Ukrainian IT Army" channel that had more than 200,000 followers in a mobile phone communication software at that time. The channel's first mission was to launch cyberattacks against Russian banks, businesses and government entities "using any network and DDoS attack vector." The channel was created on Feb. 26, the same day that Mikhailo Fyodorov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, announced the creation of an "IT army" on social networking sites and publicly called on hacking volunteers around the world to join the channel.
On the night of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Juni began the first operation of his hacking career at his home in Helsinki, using a denial-of-service attack to participate in attacks on the Russian presidential palace and the websites of two energy giants. Juni felt he was part of Ukraine's hacking army, directing other Finnish hackers to launch cyberattacks as requested by Ukraine. Juney believes it's an information war, and he knows how to protect his identity and minimize the risk of cyber exposure.
Miko Heppegen, director of security research at Finn's, a well-known computer and network security provider in Europe and even the world, told the media that as a country, Ukraine actively encourages civilians to participate in cyber warfare and gathers people from all over the world to form an unprecedented army of hackers to fight for Ukraine, which is unusual and unheard of. Ukraine is a country with strong technical strength, both excellent universities and high-quality software industry, as well as many years of experience in cyber attacks against Russia.
Heppegen stressed that anyone can hide in the "Anonymous", which provides a cover for the country's cyberattacks. Despite the skilled Skills of Ukrainians, there is speculation about the role of the United States in the industry. Hepeggen believes that without these civilian cyber hacks, it would be very easy to detect cyberattacks from the U.S. military, but the current situation can make state actors "fish in muddy waters."
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called on U.S. hackers to launch cyberattacks against Russia in an interview on February 25. "We can... Attack many government oligarchs. That's what we did during the Arab Spring, and we should do everything we can to do it online again." ”
A network attack or causes a conflict to escalate
After the cyber attack on the Space Mission Control Center of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Rogozin, general manager of the Russian State Space Corporation, warned that hacking attempts to disrupt the operation of Russian satellites would lead to serious consequences and could even be interpreted as a "declaration of war incident".
Hepgen believes that after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the cyber attack on the Russian banking system was the most serious and has affected the lives of civilians. In addition, the industry that suffered the most intensive cyberattacks was the Russian news media, the main purpose of which was to block its external voice channels, but the impact was relatively small. He said that in the previous days the "Ukrainian IT army" also planned to destroy The Russian power and train networks to prevent the deployment of the Russian army and its equipment. Belarus has also been subjected to cyberattacks, and in addition to denial-of-service attacks, Anonymous has also infiltrated the Belarusian train control network system.
Mauri Khutinen, a former head of NATO's Strategic Communications Center and a professor at the Finnish Defence Academy, believes that the addition of Anonymous may change the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Erka Koyvinen, Director of Security Information Security at Heppegen and Finn's, warned that the consequences of a cyberattack could escalate the conflict to unpredictable levels and harm innocent people. Civilian hacking could accidentally disrupt the operations of state networks, lead to the collapse of Russian emergency services or health systems, harm Russian civilians, and direct their anger at the Ukrainian government.
Fen's Security said the Cyberattacks launched by Russia had disrupted Ukrainian border station data, leaving a large number of Ukrainian refugees stranded at the border. Koyvinin believes that if Russia launches a cyberattack on NATO countries, it may have unpredictable consequences. An anonymous NATO official told Reuters a few days ago that cyber attacks on NATO countries may trigger the launch of NATO Article 5 because cyber attacks can be interpreted as attacks on NATO as a whole; but NATO has no accurate measurement in this regard, and whether to judge as an attack on NATO will be a political decision.
Heppegan believes that netizens should focus their efforts on verifying the truth and preventing false information.
Enhancing cybersecurity is imperative
Headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, Union Bank of Northern Europe is a world leader in its online services capabilities. Recently, the bank suffered a cyber attack that lasted for nearly 24 hours, and online banking and mobile banking services were temporarily interrupted, but the attack did not pose any threat to customer deposits or personal data.
Heppeggen said a denial-of-service attack can send large amounts of network traffic to targeted websites or services, thereby disrupting their web pages or service capabilities. Usually, a denial-of-service attack can only interrupt network service for a few seconds or minutes until the target's security system defenses take effect, and the long interruption of Nordic Union Bank's network service indicates that the attack method is not ordinary. Denial-of-service attacks are typically used by civilian hackers and are difficult to trace, while state-led cyberattacks tend to be more sophisticated. Matthias Messi, a security expert at the Cyber Security Center of the Finnish Communications and Transport Agency, believes that the prolonged cyberattack on The Nordic Union Bank usually means that it is a very large-scale or highly technically capable attack.
Yano Limnagar, a professor of cyber security at Aalto University in Finland, pointed out that the security situation in Europe has deteriorated, the risk of cyber attacks in Finland is also increasing, and more serious cyber attacks in the future may lead to the escalation and expansion of conflicts. In terms of cybersecurity, Finland needs three things to improve: first, to strengthen the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure, second, to strengthen the ability to respond to cyber emergencies, and third, to cooperate with international partners.
Limnagar believes that the information war has begun, and the network has become a new battlefield. There are two dimensions to the battle in the online world: one is the psychological dimension, which influences people's thinking by publishing information, which in turn affects public opinion; the other is the technical dimension, which carries out hacking attacks and affects social infrastructure targets such as power plants.
Koyvinen warned that cyberattacks are not "toy wars" and that cyber intervention will not help resolve conflicts, which is not only illegal, but can also endanger the safety of participants themselves.
(Guangming Daily Helsinki, March 10)
Guangming Daily (2022.03.11. 12th edition)
Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily