Russian hackers are targeting US server infrastructure with brute-force attacks ahead of the 2020 election according to new research from the VPN company NordVPN.
Researchers commissioned by the agency have noticed a huge increase in the variety of brute-force attacks against servers within the US which have spiked by 98 %.
The findings themselves come from a “Cyber Honeypot” or a cluster of servers set up to mimic real-life servers and trick cybercriminals into attacking them. Over the course of two months, the Cyber Honeypot was attacked on a daily basis however recent attacks stood out due to the number of attackers attempting to break into its servers.
Digital privacy expert at NordVPN Daniel Markuson provided further insight on the recent uptick in attacks, saying:
“Attacks targeted at SSH and Telnet honeypot designed to log brute force attacks. Attempts to break in skyrocketed, reaching a 98% uplift overnight. What’s interesting, that half of all attacks came from a single network without efforts to disguise that it originated from Petersburg, Russia.”
Increase in cyberattacks
According to Markuson, the Russian hackers behind this latest series of assaults might have been attempting to make the most of the truth that the public is simply too busy monitoring the outcomes of the US 2020 election instead of their own cybersecurity.
Security researchers use honeypots as a means to grasp what varieties of assaults are trending and what varieties of malware, viruses and assaults are currently being utilized by cybercriminals. Based mostly on the information gleaned from honeypots, companies and cybersecurity specialists can higher defend themselves towards the latest cyber threats.
Markuson also urged each companies and consumers to take an extra proactive stance on the subject of their own cybersecurity posture, saying:
“Members of the public, corporations, and governments alike, must develop a great behavior of taking cyber safety measures by default. Websites should be utilizing HTTPS protocols by default; databases shouldn’t be left unprotected; and people should be strongly advised to surf the net utilizing a VPN to guard themselves from eavesdropping and attacks.”