The Advent of 2023 Marked an Alarming Upsurge in Cyber Assaults on Governments

There was a notable spike in cyber spying campaigns, indicating an alarming increase in the exploitation of digital platforms for illicit actions.

In a recent investigation by Surfshark, there has been a rapid rise in cyber assaults targeting official agencies, highlighting a concerning pattern in the realm of digital security.

A published report by Surfshark revealed that out of 921 plus significant cyber-assaults recorded between 2006 to the first quarter of 2023, 720 plus were directed at government bodies. The report highlights the alarming trend in digital assaults toward government bodies, even during the initial month of 2023.

The government witnessed a substantial spike in digital assaults since 2020, with annual means rising from 30 to 95 incidents. A study revealed that nearly fifty percent of the 920 critical cases studied emerged in the past three years. Sociable engineering was often the initial tactic used by threat players, leading to spyware or ransomware strikes, although in specific cases, misleading campaigns were also used.

The Surfshark report indicates that cyber spying drives are a major cause for concern, as 15 percent of all strikes on government commodities since 2006 have been identified as such. The first quarter of 2023 saw 30 plus hits, with almost one-third of them (nine) being cyber spying incidents, a number that's almost equivalent to the whole year of 2022.

According to the analysis, cyber spying campaigns are primarily executed by state-sponsored entities, indicating an escalation in e-warfare between governments. The researchers cite recent cases, such as the Russian hacking of the French National Assembly site and the involvement of a Vietnamese cyber spying group in targeting a United States federal organization in March, as evidence of this trend.

Some of the most diligent and skilled threat players in the world include NK (North Korea), Chinese, and Russian state-sponsored groups. The North Korean Lazarus Group, for instance, is notorious for targeting cryptocurrency firms as a means of generating funds for the country's military and government procedures.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Lazarus Group was responsible for one of the most significant cryptocurrency thefts in history, in which they breached the Ronin Network and stole over $600 million plus worth of cryptocurrencies. This incident highlights the group's highly refined capabilities and the seriousness of the danger posed by state-sponsored cyber-spying drives.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World