Pro-Russian Hackers Target Critical Industries Across the Globe

In 2024, as the Russia-Ukraine war prolongs and military and economic cooperation between North Korea and Russia deepens, cyberspace has emerged as a central battleground for international conflict.

Russia is increasingly using cyber-attacks as a strategic tool to alleviate economic pressure from international sanctions and to bolster its war capabilities.

This shift has led to targeted campaigns against critical industries in major countries worldwide, from manufacturing and energy to semiconductors and finance

Reports throughout 2024 reveal that pro-Russian hacking groups, notably SectorJ149 (also known as UAC-0050), orchestrated indiscriminate distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on public institutions and orchestrated precision intrusions into private enterprises.

In South Korea, spear-phishing emails began circulating in November, luring executives and employees in the manufacturing, energy and semiconductor sectors with counterfeit purchase orders and quotation requests attached as compressed files.

Similar tactics ...