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- A dangerous given: hackers have started attacking Russian companies 60% more frequently
In 2024, the number of Russian companies that were attacked by hackers increased by almost 60% compared to 2023, cybersecurity experts told Izvestia. At the same time, dipfakes created with the help of generative neural networks are increasingly being used for hacking. As a result, the volume of leaks of Russians' personal data has grown by more than half over the year. Experts note that despite companies' investments in security, it is impossible to protect 100% from hacks, as the nature of attacks changes from year to year and they are becoming more sophisticated.
What new cyberattack schemes have emerged over the year
In 2024, Russian businesses are facing an unprecedented increase in the number and level of sophistication of cyberattacks. The number of companies that were subject to DDoS attacks increased by 60% compared to 2023, according to a study by Bastion.
This compares to a 50% increase in the previous season compared to 2022. They are becoming more sophisticated, using dipfakes created using generative neural networks.
More than 60% of successful attacks on organizations result in leaks, Bastion stated.
In 2024, the volume of leaks of Russians' personal data increased by more than 50% compared to 2023. In the first four months of 2024, more than 25 major leaks were detected, each of which affected more than a million people, the study noted.
DDoS attacks most often target the financial and public sectors. Education and healthcare are affected less frequently, but remain vulnerable as well. In addition, analysts record attacks using malicious programs that Russian companies have not encountered before.
The press service of Russian Railways told Izvestia that on average the company has to repel about 4 million attacks on its information systems per year. According to RZD specialists, the intensity of cyberattacks is decreasing, while there is a redistribution and change in their nature. It can be seen that hackers are trying new ways and variants of hacking.
The Company continues to work actively to protect its systems. Incident response plans have been developed and approved for all critical information infrastructure facilities.
"Izvestia" sent requests to the Association of Banks of Russia, the Association of Retail Trade Companies, large companies with the question about the fight against hacker attacks.
Denis Kuskov, CEO of TelecomDaily, believes that hacker attacks will continue to increase, as attackers are interested in stealing information to obtain funds. IT specialists often thwart attacks, but no one can defend themselves 100%.
Why attacks on companies are on the rise
The public and financial sectors are actively undergoing digital transformation: more and more data and services are becoming available to citizens on the Web, which increases their vulnerability to cyberattacks, according to Anna Vyatkina, an analyst in Positive Technologies' analytical research department.
- The aforementioned sectors play a crucial role in the state economy, so against the backdrop of escalating geopolitical conflicts, they often become targets of hacktivists, financially motivated groups. Financial and government institutions are also pursued by APT groups - groups of attackers who carefully plan their attacks for the purpose of cyber espionage," the expert said.
According to Positive Technologies, the most frequent consequence of successful attacks in the first half of 2024 was leaks of confidential information. In 43% and 23% of successful attacks on government and financial institutions, respectively, in the three quarters of 2024, attackers managed to disrupt organizations' core operations.
Evgeny Budarin, head of the pre-sales support group at Kaspersky Lab, told Izvestia that protection requires not only anti-virus solutions, products for filtering mail and Internet traffic, but also automated products for in-depth examination of the state of the infrastructure.
He noted that large businesses are now seeing a growing demand for various services that help them assess the security of their infrastructure or increase the level of security.
The complexity of attacks continues to grow, and most of the successful attempts to gain unauthorized access are still associated with the exploitation of the simplest vulnerabilities, said Duma deputy Anton Nemkin. For example, not all organizations perform systematic software updates.
The situation has worsened as foreign vendors leave the Russian market. Instead of switching to domestic products, a number of organizations continue to use old versions of solutions, and some have switched to unlicensed products, said the deputy. In addition, he said, a number of companies do not provide for accounting of old equipment, which also creates a gap in information security.
According to Nemkin, today it is important for government agencies and corporations to systematically involve "white" hackers as independent professionals who will check the security of information systems. This is especially important when it comes to protecting huge amounts of personal data of citizens and access to key government systems.
Today, some companies are already using the services of such hackers. For example, Yandex paid such specialists 70 million rubles in 2023 to search for vulnerabilities in services and infrastructure. This year they have already allocated 100 million rubles for this purpose, said Anton Nemkin. Ozon, VK, and T-bank are also launching their own protection programs. Last year, government agencies joined the movement for ethical hacking.
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