The Russian cyber-security firm Group-IB have claimed that increased hacking activity within Russia is a result of Western nations targeting Russian citizens. The group claims that the hackers are targeting Russian financial institutions in order to steal customer data. Surprisingly enough though, the United States was not the only nation being blamed for the increased attacks. The European Union was also called out for targeting Russian financial institutions. They claim that the goal of the attackers is to collect information on Russian citizens and companies to launch further sanctions on Russia.
Analyst Notes
Russia has had a very tense relationship with the west over the past few years and situations or claims such as these only worsen those relations while increasing the probability of further back-and-forth cyber-attacks.
