How cyberattacks affect public officials in their work

This post is written by Yurii Shchyhol, Head of the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine.

• The problem: The number of politically motivated cyberattacks is increasing, with public officials being the primary target for politically motivated hackers
• Why it matters: Cyberwarfare is an integral component of any conflict, so the number and scale of such conflict will be increasing, while cybersecurity is not yet paid enough attention.
• The solution: Any defence systems are powerless against the human factor, so cyber hygiene and cybersecurity culture still remain the most essential components of any cyber defence.

russia is the number one threat to the whole democratic world. It is not just about the russian hackers who are notorious worldwide.

Cyberattacks are only a part of the war russia is waging against the world order. The ultimate goal of putin’s regime is chaos, disasters and impoverishment in all developed countries, alongside institutional breakdown, loss of trust in authorities and total public disorientation.

It is only reasonable to expect that the same scenario will be used to attack other countries as well.

russian propaganda factories are mass-producing fakes about things that constitute the basis of our world, ranging from public health to conspiracy theories and an overall alternative reality created by russian propaganda. In this alternative reality, russia has been consistently creating numerous loopholes to justify aggression against Ukraine.

It is only reasonable to expect that the same scenario will be used to attack other countries as well. It is already happening, at least in cyberspace, for the quantity of cyberattacks on democratic countries has grown significantly over the last few months. This issue is referred to in the latest Microsoft report. As usual, most cyberattacks are against the United States. Ukraine is ranked second. But aggression against Poland, Baltic countries and NATO members has also substantially increased.

A new world of dangers

Unlike 2017, when the NotPetya virus spread rapidly and infected millions of computers all over the world, russian hackers are now acting much more discreetly, but it does not mean they have become less dangerous. On the contrary, they have improved their skills over the last few years and are spreading various types of tailor-made malware. This is what most cybersecurity analysts say, and this is exactly what we have witnessed in our country.

russian cyberwar against democracy is going on here and now. It was already going on yesterday and it will continue tomorrow, until russia is stopped once and for all and the world acquires efficient tools for deterring cyber aggressors.

Every public official in every democratic country is targeted by russian hackers. Their weapons might already be downloaded to your PC and may be operating while you are reading this.

You cannot just throw some money at them, because they are funded from budget revenues. Or they can make money for waging cyberattacks by waging cyberattacks. So, there is no guarantee that these cyber terrorists will give your data back even if you pay them off.

There is no hiding from them, because the world has become a global village, thoroughly permeated by information systems, and there is no way back.

You cannot just sit through and keep silent about his problem, because the effects of cyberattacks will make themselves known sooner or later.

Not only government-level registers and services are in the crosshairs, but less protected local ones as well. Effective cyberattacks may cost millions of dollars to the country’s budget and may hinder normal operation of public services for months.

After all, common people and civil infrastructure are suffering the most from these cyberattacks. Even democracy itself may suffer from them if russia succeeds in creating a desirable level of chaos through a combination of activities including cyberattacks, fake news, purportedly instigated and escalated crises.

Cyber hygiene should become a number one priority for all public officials in the world.

Winning together

But no matter how aggressive and insatiable the enemies are, they can still be defeated. For instance, the full-scale war against Ukraine has been waged for over 120 days. Massive aggression in cyberspace had started even earlier. But Ukrainian information resources withstood it. Services are functioning, people in the government-controlled territories have access to familiar services, primarily resulting from the work done and the lessons learned.

But not only keeping specific services operating in an individual country is important. What is really important is that we all stand together.

Such a boring issue as cyber hygiene should become a number one priority for all public officials in the world. In today’s world cyber hygiene is as much a component of professional integrity as professional skills. It is essential for public officials and should be extended to their entire lifestyle, not just their occupational activity. Chief executives and information security managers must take this into account while planning professional growth and scheduling training of staff.

Cybersecurity culture in organisations should become a personal goal for every senior manager of every public agency or local authority. All public officials should keep in mind that they are constantly targeted by hackers and their managers are there to make sure they remember about it, so that the corporate culture of cybersecurity eventually becomes a symbol of a successful career.

Cyber threats, especially threats to critical information systems, should be ranked first when assessing organisation-specific risks. Each manager must know what should be protected first, and what are the consequences of a data leak or a system breakdown for the organisation. You should know if your organisation has any plan in place for that and if your team is aware of it. You should know how the cybersecurity system operates in your country, who is responsible for what, and what collaborative arrangements between institutions exist against cyber threats.

I am confident that russia will fail to bring the war to every democracy in the world. At least we are doing everything we can in Ukraine today, so that it will never happen.

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