The war between Russia and Ukraine has once again brought cyberwar to the forefront, because a militaristic conflict does not necessarily only involve attacks on physical and communication infrastructures, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has initiated a period of cyberwar that knows no borders and whose targets are not only Ukraine, but the cyberwar has reached the whole of Europe.

What is cyberwar?

Cyberwar or technological war is the use of digital attacks by one country to damage another country’s critical information systems. To achieve this, hackers may use hacking attacks or computer viruses.

One of the main target of cyberwar is to find technical and technological vulnerabilities in the enemy country’s computer systems in order to attack them. These attacks may seek the recapitulation of sensitive information or the destruction of critical services.

For a cyberattack to be considered cyberwar, there must be a State behind it, therefore, even if a cyberattack is suffered that may have the same consequences as cyberwar, if it is not supported by a country, it will not be considered as cyberwar. Finally, it is important to note that the major powers in cyberwar are the US, China and Russia.

Weapons used in cyberwar

As we mentioned before, in cyberwar there is no army as in traditional war conflicts; instead, a State pays large amounts of money to a team of hackers with skills and knowledge to destroy and cause damage to the enemy’s computer systems.

Depending on the hacker capabilities and the specific objectives they have, the weapons and tools they can use are varied, ranging from the most basic to the most sophisticated methods. Nevertheless, we can establish two common weapons that are used in all cyberwar:

• Ransomware: It is one of the main weapons used by hackers in cyberwars. Not only it is used to obtain money by hijacking data, but it is also used to cause chaos through data destruction.
• DDos attack: In these attacks, malware is used to discover vulnerabilities and failures in the equipment in order to cause computer systems to fail.

In addition to the power of these weapons, they can be analyzed and improved.

Types of cyberwar and their objectives

Within a cyberwar we can find multiple types of attacks, the most common are the following:

• Espionage.
• Sabotage.
• Propaganda.
• Damage to the country’s financial fabric and economy.

How can we protect ourselves against a cyberattack?

Although 100% protection from cyberattacks is practically impossible, there are several security tips and recommendations that can help us to avoid the risk.

• To have all systems up to date and thus avoid a cyberattack as much as possible. It is important that our software and operating systems are updated and have antivirus protection.
• To use solutions such as a proxy, firewall or VPN, which will allow us to establish secure communication channels.
• To use strong passwords is important for proper password management and creating passwords consciously and making them secure.
• To educate employees will also help companies to have qualified and trained staff who can cope with and prevent any cyberattack.
• To be cautious with email, as it is one of the main entry channels for viruses and the main gateway to a company or institution for hackers; so be careful with it and do not open or download suspicious email attachments.
• Regular backups are crucial in order not to lose information and thus not to compromise data.
• Not download from unsecured sites is key to avoid compromise our business.

In addition to all these tips, we cannot forget that if we bet on the securitization of our critical assets by encrypting our information through Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) we will be reinforcing the security of our own data and those of our customers while minimizing the risks of possible cyber-attacks arising from situations such as the current cyberwar.

REALSEC, your IT security company

At REALSEC we are aware of the importance of computer wars and the problems they can cause, therefore, we develop solutions for encryption, digital signature, time stamping, PKI and cybersecurity in Blockchain and IoT, all of them based on our own Hardware Security Module (HSM).

Our solutions are conceived and designed to protect information in the Banking, Fintech, Methods of Payment, Government, Defense and Business Sectors.

Preserve your company with REALSEC and enjoy a secure and protected environment.