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7 November 2022

Russia, Ukraine and China, this is the reality of cyber warfare

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The war between Russia and Ukraine began months ago but not only is fought through physical attacks, but part of the strategy includes the development of cyber attacks. These breaches of electronic devices belonging to the enemy were recorded in a Microsoft report on digital defense that summarizes these specific incidents in data.

The document prepared by the technology company, called the Microsoft Digital Defense Report, presented this year, indicates an increase of 20%of cyber attacks directed at critical infrastructures that were produced worldwide and detected by Microsoft, bringing this figure to 40%, the highest recorded to date.

This increase, according to the public document, could be explained by the attempt to damage the Ukrainian infrastructure and the aggressive espionage directed at Ukraine's allies, including the United States, which was identified as the country targeted by the most cyberattacks in the world followed by the United United Kingdom.

The Defense Report Microsoft Digital identified US companies as the country receiving the most attempted cyberattacks, followed by the UK. (Screenshot)

Also, Microsoft recommends that companies should further protect potential targets containing sensitive information. This can be achieved by activating protection through the cloud, as it identifies the threats that are new and those already known to the system.

Regarding the category to which the companies most likely to receive a computer attack belong, it was found that 22%of these cases was directed specifically at those within the information technology sector, followed by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with 17%, educationwith 14% and in fourth place the governmentwith 10%.

“Although nation-state actors can be technically sophisticated (…) their attacks can often be mitigated with good cyber hygiene,” the Microsoft document states. He adds that “many of these actors rely on relatively low technology media, such as phishing instead of investing in more advanced means”.

information technologies are the most likely to be attacked according to the Microsoft report. (Screenshot)

On the other hand, China It has also been involved in espionage attempts through cyber attacks with the aim of extracting information. According to information presented by Microsoft, between February and March, a Chinese cybercriminal targeted 100 accounts related to an Asian organization that held meetings with the government of United States. States.

The Asian country has developed the ability to find “vulnerabilities day zero”: security gaps in some software that have not yet developed a park to prevent other organizations or states from taking advantage of them to violate user security and companies.

Cybercriminals continue to benefit

The number of cybercriminals continues to grow and its attacks become increasingly sophisticated thanks to the use of new techniques and increasing complexity. According to MicrosoftIn the last year alone, the estimated number of password attacks per second increased by 74%.

The number of cybercriminals continues to rise and their attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated thanks to the use of new techniques and increasing complexity. (Photo: cybercrime)

While in North America and Europe there was a decrease in the number of reported cases, cases in Latin America increased by as well as the cases of phishing that intend to use the context of the war between Russia and Ukraine to solicit supposed donations through cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin or Ethereum) to charities that support Ukrainian civilians.

“As we consider the seriousness of the threat to the digital landscape, and its translation to the physical world, it is important to remember that we all have the power to take action to protect ourselves, our organizations and businesses against threats. digital threats,” said Tom Burt, corporate vice president of Customers, Security and Trust at Microsoft.

Cyber ​​hygiene is the best defense for businesses

Microsoft also indicates that the average business has 3,500 devicesconnected, but they do not have basic protections that prevent the entry of attackers, who take advantage of this situation.

In addition, the detection of an attack must be done as as soon as possible because sometimes the result of a cyber attack is determined long before it starts. Attackers use vulnerable environments to gain initial access, surveillance, and cause damage.

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