According to the British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, there is evidence of malicious cyber activity by Russia’s GRU against Olympic preparations. It appears that the Glavnoye Razvedyvatelnoye Upravlenie (GRU) unit behind the latest attacks on South Korea and Japan, 74455, was involved, according to The Guardian.
Following a combined response from the U.K. and U.S. against this potential Russian interference of the Tokyo Olympic games, and the notice of arrest for some members of the GRU, the incident raises questions about the level of security in place and it highlights the relative risks posed from so-called rogue states.
Looking at the issue for Digital Journal is Cath Goulding, CISO of Nominet.
According to Goulding, the threat level was serious. She notes: “The action taken by the UK and the US in response to the cyber reconnaissance conducted against those involved in the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games demonstrates how necessary collaboration is when confronting cyber threats at the international level.”
In terms of what was taking place with the attack, Goulding notes: “With these threat actors having attempted to disguise their origin in the past, there is a requirement for investigation into the extent of activities and a need for exposure in the counter defence to ensure all potential victims are fully prepared.”
The best solution, Goulding sees, is through different nations coming together. What is central to this is intelligence gathering and information sharing. Here Goulding opines: “While collaboration between governments has often happened behind the scenes for a long time, defending against these high level nation-targeted attacks with detailed reports on the method and threat actor is relatively new. In a heightened political landscape and with the activities of the GRU becoming more evident, collaborative counter defence and the sharing of intelligence and cyber resources has never been so important. The Russia Report, for example, showed us just how complex and far reaching nation-backed cyber campaigns can be.”
