FBI PIN – Hacktivists Use of DDoS Activity Causes Minor Impacts

The FBI published a TLP:CLEAR Private Industry Notification (PIN) warning of cyber threats emanating from hacktivist activity and to encourage organizations to implement the recommendations in the Mitigations section to reduce the likelihood and impact of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.

The FBI defines hacktivism as a collective of cyber criminals who conduct cyber activities to advance an ideological, social, or political cause. According to the PIN, “Coinciding with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the FBI is aware of Pro-Russian hacktivist groups employing DDoS attacks to target critical infrastructure companies with limited success.” These hacktivists are willing to provide tools and guidance on cyber attack methodology and techniques to anyone willing to conduct an attack on behalf of their “cause.” These attacks are normally opportunistic in nature, but with DDoS mitigation steps, have minimal operational impact on victims. However, the psychological impact of DDoS attacks could be greater than the potential disruption of service. Accordingly, the PIN provides recommendations for organizations to defend against this activity. The FBI encourages partners to report suspicious or criminal activity to their local FBI field office or the FBI’s 24/7 CyberWatch (CyWatch) at (855)292-3937 or Cy*****@*bi.gov. Access the PIN below.