Posted on July 15, 2022 at 3:34 AM

Pro-Russian Hacker Group Killnet Hits Ukrainian Energy Firm With DDoS Attack

Lithuanian energy firm Ignitis Group has become the latest victim of a distributed denial of services (DDoS) attack. The company says the attack is its worst cyber attack in a decade. According to the report, the incident disrupted its websites and digital services operations.

The notorious pro-Russian group Killnet has claimed responsibility for the attack. The group has been relatively active with its hacking activities over the past few months. It’s also in line with Russia’s fight against Ukraine and other allies that support Ukraine. The group noted that Lithuania was targeted because of its support for Ukraine in the war.

The Attack Has Been Managed

Following the attack, the Ignitis Energy Company posted on its Facebook page stating that the threat posed by the attack has been limited. The company added that it did not record any breach on its systems due to the attack. But the message, posted on July 9, revealed that the attacks were ongoing.

The country’s prime minister for national defense, Margiris Abukevicius, while speaking on Lithuanian Radio, warned that there should be less attention given to the attackers. He added that the main goal of the threat actors in this incident is to gain more publicity and be seen as a huge threat while driving tensions in the region. He noted that the government will resist any attempt to get indulged in such an attempt. “We need to understand that publicity is a very important part of these attacks,” he commented.

Abukevicius added that the attackers will lose motivation if they are not granted the publicity they crave. But in a situation where people concentrate on alleged victories and punishment to Lithuania, the other side enjoys a sense of satisfaction.

Since the attack did not result in the breach of personal data or important information, it will be better to talk down on the event.

Russian Threat Groups Continue Cyber Attacks Against Ukraine Allies

The Russian-Ukraine war has taken more dimensions than the physical battles of the military of both countries. The battle has been taken online with rival threat groups supporting either Russia or Ukraine to launch attacks against opposing nations. The Anonymous Group and other hacktivists have shown their support for Ukraine while targeting Russia. On the other hand, different Russian threat groups have attacked both Ukraine and Western allies supporting Ukraine.

Lithuanian institutions in particular have been affected by wide-ranging cyber-attacks since last month when it started enforcing EU sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine. Lithuania blocked the routes for goods traveling to Kalinigrad, a Russian enclave on the Baltic coast.

Ignitis Group is one of the biggest energy companies in the region. It has a strong presence in the Baltic region, including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, and Poland. Its major activities include power and heat generation, as well as natural gas distribution and trading. The group works with companies that supply natural gas and power to 1.6 million private customers and businesses in the region.

Ignitis To Strengthen Its Security

Ignitis Group, while addressing the incident in a press release, stated that it has reported it to responsible authorities. It added that the group is making efforts to enable the accessibility of its websites and digital services.

Head of Business resilience at Ignitis Group, Edvinas Kerza, also commented on the development. He stated that the main priority of the company is to make sure that the group’s systems and services are up and running at full length. The company wants to ensure that customers’ services are not disrupted in any way.

After completing the maintenance of the systems, the company will find out how to improve its processes and improve the security of the systems. The goal is to strengthen them against further exposure or attacks in the future. He added that the company will ensure that under such a large-scale attack, the operations will be disrupted as little as possible.

The Russian Killnet group is responsible for several attacks across several regions over the past few years. But it has been concentrating on Lithuania since June 20.

On its Telegram channel with 88,000 followers, the group called on several hacktivists to join hands to attack Lithuanian websites. The group also shared a list of targets.

The attacks were continuous and spread across several businesses and organizations in different industries. A total of over 130 websites in both private and public sectors were affected and made inaccessible by the attack.