The National Cyber Security Centre or NCSC, being a part of Government Communications Headquarters [GCHQ] issued a warning alert to the CNI bodies operating within the United Kingdom about rising threats originating from state-aligned groups.
The state-aligned groups that are in favour of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are planning destructive cyberattacks intending to disrupt the operations of the UK’s Critical National Infrastructure [CNI] organisations.
The Treat of State-Aligned Groups
The activities of state-aligned groups are not influenced by monetary gains. Moreover, these groups cannot be controlled by any governing authority, making their threats highly unpredictable when compared to conventional cyber attackers.
The state-aligned groups are notorious for executing Distributed Denial of Service [DDoS] attacks that aim to overwhelm a network with abnormal traffic, in turn, crippling it from functioning adequately. Other malpractices such as spreading misinformation and website defacements are also practised by such state-aligned groups.
Other state-aligned groups have also intimated their intentions of infiltrating and adversely impacting Western infrastructure. The primary objective of the NCSC is to find relevant solutions to such threats and implement strategies that safeguard CNI bodies.
The Opinion of Experts
In April, NCSC organised the CYBERUK conference in Belfast where thousands of cyber security leaders and experienced professionals gathered to enhance the cyber security sector of the UK. The conference illuminated some of the foremost challenges and opportunities the UK cyber security community must acknowledge.
Over 2,300 professionals originating from 38 diverse countries attended the event, including the NCSC Deputy Director for Critical National Infrastructure, Dr. Marsha Quallo-Wright. The security alert was initially announced during the CYBERUK conference.
Dr. Marsha Quallo Wright stated that the NCSC is aware of the activities and intentions of specific state-aligned groups that aim to disrupt the operations of CNI units. The Deputy Director also claimed that the NCSC has formulated effective strategies that will assist CNI bodies to bypass these threats.
A plea appealing the implementation of NCSC heightened threat guidance was later put forward towards the end of the CYBERUK conference.
