UK Has Been Targeted by Pro-Russian Hackers
Infamous pro-Russian organization UserSec, along with other notable names like NoName and Russian Cyber Army, attacked the UK earlier today. The hackers posted print-screens of the targeted websites.
- The 3 victims are Diamond Logistics, ETA Logistics, and Citizen Housing
- The hackers invoked the UK’s pro-Ukrainian affinities as the reason for the attacks
- Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 caused the emergence of several pro-Russian cybercriminal gangs deeply invested in supporting the Kremlin regime
- NoName is the most powerful and influential of them all
Cyberattacks have become normal against both the Ukrainian infrastructure and that of its allies. In many cases, pro-Russian gangs organize solo operations against various targets. But every once in a while, they join forces to crack more well-protected targets.
UserSec is a cryptic entity that typically flies under the public radar. The group prefers to stay low and usually participates in joint operations like this one to make a statement. The gang’s structure and members are currently unknown.
As suggested by the hackers themselves, this was a DDoS attack that managed to disable the target websites. These types of attacks are usually not as damaging, with the victims generally bouncing back soon. Except that’s by design.
The goal isn’t necessarily to spend a lot of resources to conduct highly impactful hits but rather to send a message. UserSec, like all other pro-Russian cybercriminal entities today, is strictly interested in pushing and preserving the Kremlin’s interest.
What Do We Know About UserSec?
UserSec first came public in 2022, the same year that NoName announced its official release. There’s little doubt that this isn’t a coincidence. Both organizations, as well as many lower-caliber ones, are born from the flames of the Ruso-Ukrainian war.
While it hasn’t been confirmed that the UserSec is being funded by the Russian government, many paint this theory as highly likely. Russia has been known to rely on cyberattacks heavily over the past decades for a variety of purposes.
These include spying, stealing information and technology, obtaining sensitive data for blackmail purposes, carrying out propaganda, and so on. The same tactics have been observed with NoName, especially in 2022, when the gang was still new.
UserSec isn’t as proactive as NoName, but they still rank high on the list of the most dangerous pro-Russian cybercriminal gangs. The hackers are invested in the destruction of Ukraine and its allies and they’re quite transparent about it.
This recent operation has been driven by the UK’s continuous support of Ukraine. According to the latest data, the UK government has provided over 12 billion pounds to Ukraine since the beginning of the war.
More than 7 billion of it consisted of military support. More importantly, the UK government recently announced a 500-million-pound military package set to boost Ukraine’s war capabilities yet again.
In this context, the attention that the UK is getting from pro-Russian cybercriminal gangs makes sense. And given the determination and proficiency of the latter, it’s unlikely that the situation will change anytime soon.
Our Mission
We believe security online security matters and its our mission to make it a safer place.
