A security intelligence service in Finland warned about an expected increase in Russian cyberespionage attacks for the upcoming winter season.
The Finnish security intelligence service explained that Russian threat actors’ cybercriminal activities might intensify to exploit the effects of the upcoming season. Moreover, those joining NATO are bound to be privileged targets for Russian cyberespionage attacks.
The cyber threats against Finland’s essential infrastructure have also surged in both the cyber and physical landscape due to the current geopolitical crisis between Ukraine and Russia. The worst part of these attacks is that they could potentially neutralise their targets’ infrastructure operation, leading to unforeseen consequences.
Russian cyberespionage campaigns started with its spies scattered to many countries.
Based on reports, the Russian cyberespionage attacks’ intelligence gathering heavily depends on its spies hiding under diplomatic cover. This approach by Russia was affected by its invasion since many of its diplomats were removed by western countries.
As of now, Finland was not targeted by any malicious attacks from the Russian-based threat actors despite the recent reaction to Finland’s NATO accession process being restrained.
The Finnish government feared that the Russian government would escalate the situation, and the malicious activities could worsen against them. Finland has also warned other countries about Russia’s operations targeting Western organisations.
Furthermore, the Russian security and intelligence services were increasingly targeting non-Finland natives who will visit Russia and Russians who works in Western countries when they return.
Finland’s security intelligence services also warned that Russians who work for critical positions in their country might be subject to coercion from Russian law enforcement. In December, a couple of years ago, the Parliament of Finland admitted that the threat actors had breached the email account of its members.
Coincidentally, Russian-affiliated threat actors have accessed the emails and data of several parliament employees and representatives from Norway.
The attacks by the Russian threat actors have proved that they have been targeting possible countries that will join NATO to lessen the opposition soon.
