MOSCOW, November 25. /TASS/. An increase in the competence level of hackers may lead to a second wave of more powerful cyberattacks against Russian companies in 2023, department head of Positive Technologies Denis Kuvshinov said.
"An increased in the level of competence of hacking activists will probably cause a second wave of cyberattacks against domestic companies, the public sector and the Russian Internet segment at large [in 2023 - TASS]. Unlike attacks in the first wave, the new ones will be advanced, targeted and well-prepared," the company’s press service told TASS, citing Mr. Kuvshinov.
The number of targeted attacks by more well-trained groups against organizations is growing at present, head of the laboratory in Group-IB Oleg Skulkin said.
One should not say the first wave of cyberattacks has ended, chief expert of Kaspersky Lab Sergey Golovanov told TASS. "This notion implies a drop and a rise but we do not see the drop. At the same time we indeed expect attackers will start using new techniques, tactics and vulnerabilities," the expert said. "Meanwhile, although there were plenty of attackers, their methods were well-known and clear for specialists," he added.
The forthcoming second wave of cyberattacks was mentioned as early as in August 2022. "Several preconditions are in place for that. Firstly, the qualifications of hacking activists is improving: many pro-Ukrainian teams offer probation and training at present to everyone interested; they also set goals and coordinate actions. Secondly, many evildoers can now unlock the potential of intrusion committed as part of the first wave of cyberattacks but with much graver consequences, since they have had a lot of time to study the ‘victim’," Aleksey Pavlov, the Business Development Director in Solar JSOC, told TASS earlier.