Article Link: The threat of ransomware attacks looms over the Russian invasion of Ukraine

On Thursday morning, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine escalated, reports surfaced that President Joe Biden was presented with a suite of options for launching a sweeping cyber attack against Russia intended to disrupt its military operations, from shutting off power to disrupting the internet.
The White House vehemently denied the claim, but the report reinforced the cyberwar threat hovering over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. After Biden announced sanctions against Russia on Tuesday, American officials warned businesses and local governments to brace for the possibility of ransomware attacks, which have been held up as a possible strategy for Russia to blunt the impact of sanctions from the U.S. and Europe. Russia is widely known to be a hotbed of ransomware activity.
Ransomware attacks rose by more than 60% globally from 2019 to 2020, and nearly 75% of revenue generated from ransomware attacks in 2021 went to Russian-linked hackers, recent analyses have found. Increasingly, ransomware attacks share the same outcomes as disinformation campaigns, spreading social and political instability, fostering chaos, and eroding faith in government and institutions. As Russia mounts a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, is a global cyber conflict on the horizon?

Discussion Questions:

1. Identify three key takeaways from the article. What did you find most interesting?
2. What is a ransomware attack? Why do you think there has been such an increase in these types of cyberattacks?
3. How can businesses/organizations mitigate the risk of ransomware attack? Why should they care?

Source: Erica Hellerstein, “www.codastory.com” February 26, 2022.