Some threat actors targeted Spain’s scientific research body in Madrid. National authorities suspect that the attack originated in Russia. Spain’s national authorities suspect it originated in Russia, the country’s science ministry said Tuesday.
According to a preliminary analysis, the hacker failed to get any sensitive material. The authorities also affirmed that the center did not lose any important data. In a statement, the ministry said the cyberattack was similar to others carried out against NASA in the United States and the Max Planck Institute in Germany.
Russia Attack Reveals Hidden Threats
Although it appears the attack failed, security protocols activated to ensure it was unsuccessful have left several of the council’s research centers off-line.
Investigation is still ongoing and it is hard to come to a conclusion as there is not enough evidence. However, experts hint at Russia as the force behind the attack. Additionally, they maintained that the hacker failed to obtain sensitive data.
To mitigate the attack, the authorities had to cut access to the networks of various centers. This is in line with the strict international protocol necessary to stop the incident and guarantee that the attack does not spread to centers that have not been directly affected. .
To date, just over a quarter of the CSIC centers already have a connection to the network and in the next few days it will be restored throughout the network of centers. CSIC has multiple security mechanisms that prevent more than 260,000 registered attacks daily.
This is not the first time a Russian cyber attack has failed. A few months ago, Sandworm launched an offensive on Ukrainian energy provider which failed to achieve it aims. The campaign was named Industroyer2.
The purpose for the attempt was to cut the power supply into key government offices. The concerned authorities also took action to mitigate the incident.
