The golden age of hacker groups arrives, imposing sanctions in the name of justice

In recent years, geopolitical tensions have run high, and wars have broken out frequently. The smoke-filled battlefield is only the tip of the iceberg; invisible sanctions launched through various trade and technological means have already created wave after wave of impact.

The continuous escalation of cyberattacks has become an emerging strategy in modern warfare. Hacker groups have not only thrived amidst the rapid development of the Internet and the expanding attack surface, but their power has also gradually been recognized by organizations, political parties, and nation-states. Fueled by these various forces, hacker groups have increasingly gained legitimacy and have gradually become the weapons of sanctioners.

▍Ukraine Attacked by Russian Hacker Group on Independence Day

Recently, during Ukraine's Independence Day, the websites of its three major gas station networks were hit by targeted cyberattacks from the KillNet hacker group. This resulted in the paralysis of 200 gas stations, causing huge economic losses and intensifying the online conflict in the cyber landscape between the two countries. Their actions have kept security experts and authorities on high alert.

The hackers chose to strike on Independence Day, a highly symbolic holiday, and posted on their dark web channel to commemorate the moment. The post declared: "As a gift from our team to commemorate Ukraine's Independence Day—hold on tight! Attacking three major gas station networks in Ukraine."

Beyond the immediate impact, the actions of the KillNet hacker group also spread misinformation, exacerbating cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

▍Hacker Group "Anonymous" Protests Nuclear Wastewater Discharge Plan via Cyberattacks

The discharge of nuclear-contaminated water in Fukushima, Japan, has sparked widespread resentment. The international hacker group Anonymous launched cyberattacks against Japan's nuclear power-related groups to protest the discharge into the sea. The international hacker group targeted the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, the Japan Atomic Power Company, and the Atomic Energy Society of Japan.

"Anonymous" launched Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, in which hackers released large amounts of data from multiple sources in a short period of time, overwhelming the networks.

A representative of a Tokyo company stated: "We need to remain vigilant, as attacks may escalate further after the discharge is implemented."

Meanwhile, a company unrelated to nuclear power called Nippon Weston Co. also suffered collateral damage. The group apparently mistook its website, www.weston.co.jp, for a website operated by a government entity in Western Japan and attacked it. The company's main business is the production of industrial cleaning cloths, but fortunately, the company stated that it was not affected by the attack.

▍Hacker Groups Become Sanction Weapons; SMEs Also Need to Remain Vigilant

Regardless of the motives of hacker groups, it is difficult for organizations of any size to remain unaffected by today's frequent cyber sanctions. These hacker groups are usually highly organized and professional, and their activities span multiple sectors, causing immense damage to society.

Critical information infrastructure in sectors such as finance, energy, electricity, communications, and transport is the nerve centre of economic and social operations. It is the top priority for cybersecurity and a prime target for key attacks.

For companies in non-critical information infrastructure sectors or other small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), this does not mean they can escape unscathed from the raging cyber warfare. Many companies lack proper risk assessments, underestimate the value of their own assets, and fail to realize the role they might play in a hacker's attack chain and their potential to be exploited.

▍Countermeasures and Prevention

In recent years, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly guided national security work, proposing to build a solid line of defence for cybersecurity, improve the level of cybersecurity protection, strengthen the protection of critical information infrastructure, increase research and development of core technologies alongside market-oriented guidance, enhance cybersecurity early warning and monitoring, ensure big data security, and achieve all-weather, all-round perception and effective protection.

SecurityVerify tracks internet hacker groups and vulnerabilities 24/7, providing customers with classic and popular APT attack methodologies collected from the internet. This allows customers to use these real attack scenarios to verify the effectiveness of their defence systems, target and shore up weak spots in their security defences, and improve their security operations and maintenance capabilities as well as their security operation levels.