CYBER THREATS AND ACTORS Attacks on Availability: Significant Growth of DDoS Attacks by Russian Language Hactivists One of the consequencs of Russian invasion of Ukraine has been the increased risk of cyberattacks against the states supporting Ukraine. This is something the NÚKIB has repeatedly warned about over the past year. Although the more serious scenarios of potential threats have not materialized, the Czech Republic has been the target of a number of cyberattacks that are almost certainly (90-100 %) related to this conflict. During 2022, several waves of DDoS attacks took place in the country, claimed by Russian-speaking hacktivists, which targeted public sector subjects as well as private organizations. Killnet DDoS Campaign in April 2022 Anonymous Russia DDoS Campaign in October 2022 In April 2022, the Russian-language hacking group Killnet carried out two series of DDoS attacks against the websites of Czech entities. The first wave took place on April 19-21, affecting thirteen entities, including the NÚKIB and a number of ministries of the Czech Republic. The second wave took place on April 27, targeting nine additional subjects. The beginning of the attacks coincided with the announcement regarding ongoing repairs of Ukrainian heavy military equipment on the territory of the Czech Republic. The attackers announced their attacks on their Telegram account. On October 2, 2022, the hacker group Anonymous Russia announced a wave of attacks against Czech entities on its Telegram account. Government institutions, media, banks, and airports were listed as targets. Nevertheless, the effects of the attacks were limited and only a fraction of the declared targets was hit. In the case of this campaign, efforts to establish a connection from the group’s statements to any specific action by the Czech Republic as a pretext for the attack failed. Aside for these two specific campaigns, DDoS attacks also occurred during the remainder of 2022. The monthly number of incidents caused by DDoS attacks, resolved by the NÚKIB, can be seen below (Graph 14). According to the survey, 28% of the questioned organizations encountered an attempted or successful DDoS attack during the past year. Therefore, the number of incidents reported to the NÚKIB is almost surely (90-100 %) only a fraction of the real scope of threat activity in the country. 15 13 10 8 17 5 0 0 2 1 January February March April 0 0 0 May June July 2 2 August September October November December Graph 14: Monthly Development of DDos Attacks Resolved by the NÚKIB 15 1