DDoS attacks are increasingly targeting critical infrastructure

Another Russian hacktivist group that weaponizes DDoS is called the Cyber Army of Russia, which has also been operating since 2022. During the first six months of this year, public utilities were the most common target for this group based on Netscout’s data. In July, the US Treasury and State Departments put two members of this group on the sanctions list citing their roles in cyber operations against U.S. critical infrastructure entities.

A third pro-Kremlin hacktivist group that showed up high on the radar in H1 2014 is Anonymous Russia, a group that was once associated with the much more notorious Killnet, another Russian hacking collective that regularly targets Western infrastructure.

Many bad actors are attacking to make a political statement

Other groups tracked by Netscout that targeted critical infrastructure sectors this year include SYLHET GANG-SG, Bangladesh dark net, CyberDragon, EXECUTOR DDOS, GARUDA FROM CYBER, NIXON CYBER TEAM, RipperSec, and ANON SEC BD.