Cyber ​​attacks Expert Mikko Hyppönen: The cyber attack was related to Zelensky’s speech to Parliament, but the perpetrator was hardly the Russian state

Homeland|Cyber ​​attacks

Friday The attack on the websites of ministries was probably related to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky speech, evaluates the security expert Mikko Hyppönen To HS.

At about 12 noon, a denial-of-service attack on the websites of the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense and the Government began. Their websites received so much traffic that they crashed or malfunctioned.

Zelenskyi addressed the Finnish Parliament via video on Friday after 1 p.m. The time of the speech was known in advance.

The cyber-attack ended at about 3 pm. According to Hyppönen, the times match well. Also the Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto (green) said to HS that this “may not be quite a coincidence”.

“It does not necessarily mean that it came from a Russian official or the state,” Hyppönen says.

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Self according to Hyppönen, it is unlikely that the Russian state was behind the attack.

Last week, the security police warned that Russia was likely to target cyber attacks and information influx in Finland in the coming months.

Hyppönen believes that these are, for example, civilians and more informal actors on the Russian side. They have been online recently anyway.

“Things like this should be outsourced to volunteer activists,” says Hyppönen.

A denial of service attack is quite easy to implement and is one of the most common cyber attacks. Their focus on the Finnish state administration is not uncommon, Hyppönen says.

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Leaps according to the denial of service attack is like a demonstration on the internet. It could also be described as a deliberate virtual traffic jam.

Their significance is mostly symbolic, and the purpose of the attackers is to get attention.

“It’s a way to show your mind or indignation online,” Hyppönen says.

Hyppönen points out that this time too there was a lot of news on the subject and people were worried, even though hardly anyone was harmed.

“The most important thing we have to do is put things in perspective and keep our heads cold,” says Hyppönen.

“Most of the people who may have worried about this have not even visited the Ministry of Defense website in their lifetime. There was no harm to anyone. ”

Thence Hyppönen was surprised at how long it took to figure out the problem.

The Foreign Ministry was the first to operate at about 1 p.m. It was not until about 3 p.m. that the Government announced that the attack was over and the Ministry of Defense website was operational again.

How well prepared is the Finnish government for attacks?

“Based on today’s presentation, there is still room for improvement. There are still quite big differences in how shockproof the different services are, ”says Hyppönen.

Attack the devices that caused it can be identified, but the very original sources may never be reached.

The devices are likely to be malware from ordinary people, and the attack could even be bought online for money. It is up to the police to investigate the attacks.

Hyppönen believes that denial-of-service attacks will certainly continue to be seen. However, he is more concerned about hacking and sabotage attacks. The United States, for example, has warned Russia is planning a cyber attack against it.

“It’s a warning worth taking seriously.”