The devastating news of the war in Ukraine is sadly something that we can’t ignore and is having a greater effect with implications felt around the world. As a result, the UK, the US, and many more countries in the EU have halted transactions of goods and services to Russia. One of the countries that has felt a direct response from Russia has been Lithuania. Russia has taken great offence to Lithuania’s decision to do this and retaliated by launching cyber attacks.
The Baltic state of Lithuania was targeted on Monday the 27th of June 2022 by Russian hackers. The hackers targeted websites within the transport, media industry, and the Lithuanian tax service. Experts are saying this could be the tip of the iceberg, with more hacks due to come over the next few days and weeks.
Who launched the cyber attack?
Killnet, a Russian hacker group, owned up to the responsibility of the attacks and said it was a retaliation for Lithuania’s decision to stop the transaction of goods.
As part of the European Union, Lithuania’s government have defended itself and said they are just putting in place EU sanctions, which Russia obviously didn’t take very well. There are a lot more politics and other complications of these sanctions which you can read about here.
Russia cyber attacks
The attack on Lithuania isn’t the first cyber attack Russia has committed. There were a series of cyber attacks on Ukraine at the start of the invasion back on the 24th of February 2022. This caused outages for thousands of Ukrainians – impacting windfarms and internet connections.
Going back even further, around five years ago, there was another cyber attack on Ukraine. It is thought to have begun when Russia targeted a small Ukrainian accounting software, aiming to impact Ukrainian businesses.
This is an incredibly scary topic and can be hard to imagine being in one of these countries that have been impacted so far. You may feel safe being in the UK but how would you feel if your business fell victim to Russian hackers, do you want to take that risk?
Cyber attack threat on the UK
The National Cyber Security Centre (UK cyber security experts, part of GCHQ) tells businesses within the UK that it’s not a question of if, but when a Russian cyber attack will take place. In order to protect your business and yourself, everyone must enhance their cyber security defences against the threat of Russian cyber attacks.
What protection do you have in place to protect your business from a cyber attack? If you have no security in place, do you know what will happen and the implications on your business?
On average, it could cost your business around £19,400 as the result of a cyber attack, and that doesn’t necessarily mean your business will go back to normal again after the results have been rectified. Think of the impact it will have on your clients and other potential prospects, they will no longer be able to trust you – your reputation will be ruined in a matter of days.
Cyber security
As an IT Support provider in the South East, we truly believe in encouraging businesses to stay safe from all cyber criminals – there are more than just the Russians out there trying to steal your business data. How much cyber security does your business currently have?
It can be challenging to know how much security your business needs to keep it safe, we have written a blog that will help you – How much cyber security does my business need? Here’s our easy explanation
We strongly advise our customers to visit the NCSC website for further information, the website contains many resources for small to medium-sized businesses along with individuals on how best to protect your business.
If you have any questions or are concerned about the safety of your business, contact one of our cyber security experts who will be able to offer advice on steps you can take to help protect you and your business – call 01273 806211 or email [email protected].
