MOSCOW, February 18. /TASS/. The Bank of Russia received more than 750 reports of cyberattacks on financial companies in 2024. Most of them were DDoS attacks, the regulator said in a statement.
"In 2024, the Bank of Russia received more than 750 reports of cyberattacks on financial companies. Most of the attacks were carried out to disable the information infrastructure of companies or make their services unavailable (DDoS attacks). At the same time, hackers are increasingly trying to gain access to the systems of financial organizations through attacks on their suppliers," the regulator said.
The Bank of Russia noted that attack methods are becoming more complex, multi-stage and multi-level, which sometimes allows fraudsters to bypass traditional means of information security, and makes it more difficult for financial institutions to detect attacks. In addition, when analyzing the incidents, the regulator’s specialists noted repeated attacks on previously compromised systems. In some cases, hackers were able to sell access to these systems to other attackers.
In order for financial institutions to maintain the ability to counter cyberattacks and strengthen the security of their infrastructure, the Bank of Russia regularly conducts cyber exercises. In 2024, more than 290 companies participated in them. In addition, as part of the fight against phishing, the spread of information about illegal financial activities, the fight against the activities of financial pyramids and unlicensed activities on the Internet, FinCERT (Financial Sector Computer Emergency Response Team, a special division of the Bank of Russia) identified and sent for blocking about 46,000 domains in 2024, which is one third higher than in 2023.
The Bank of Russia noted that in 2025 the problem of attribution and detection of traces of attackers will remain due to their use of compromised servers, VPNs, and mobile proxies to mask attacks. "In 2025, FinCERT will continue to develop the practice of conducting cyber exercises among national (central) banks of countries participating in interstate unions, including Russia," the report said.