Insider Report: Russia Fears an Impending Cyberattack on its Banking System

According to an insider report, Russia is in fear of an unprecedented array of cyber attacks on its banking system. In an outline sent to the country’s president on Sunday,  the leadership of the Foreign Intelligence Service and the Security Council reported a high probability of a cyber offensive on the highlighted sector.

Banks like Sberbank, VTB and Gazprombank as well as Russia’s Central Bank could be the first to experience the strike. The leadership cited the attack on Rutube undergoing an increased amount of penetration is an indication of more severe attempts at critical infrastructure.

The statement contained a list of sectors that could possibly come under malicious campaigns. Some of the groundwork that was listed included finance, economy, logistics, and military infrastructure.

Elvira Nabbiulina, the chairperson of CBR, feared the consequences of the attacks would be devastating. She also said that nothing can be done until the offensive is launched and an assessment of the damage is carried out. She added that If the campaign is launched, it may lead to losses of millions of dollars.

The would-be attackers have not been named. However, based on previous malicious attempts, hacktivist anonymous, Ukraine IT army or the West would be on the list.

Russia Streaming Platform Down for Three Days

Last week, one of Russia’s largest video streaming websites suffered a DDos attack that rendered it useless for three days. The Russian version of YouTube, Rutube, was restored almost three days after the attack.

It said in messages on its official Telegram channel that it had been the target of the “largest cyberattack” it had ever seen. The platform is said to have been remediated. However, the site is still loading slowly, and it’s unclear when full service will be restored.

Ukraine’s government has even given the “IT Army,” has claimed responsibility for the attack. it said it had received approval to launch almost daily attacks at targets it wants to overwhelm with web traffic.