The Finnish authorities have prepared for rising cyber security threats.
The Cyber Security Center has been on enhanced standby since February 24th. Illustration. Mostphotos
Malware, denial of service, and cyber attacks are on the rise. The current world political situation is further accelerating criminal activity.
Director General of the Cyber Security Center Sauli Pahlman there is no reason to think that the number of cyber threats will decrease in the near future.
Pahlman considers it possible that Russia will target more cyber attacks on Finland after sending a NATO application.
“If Russia were to see Finland’s application for NATO membership as an action that would require a protest or a message to be sent through cyber-attacks, it would mean that it would certainly see an increase in the level of cyber threats,” he says.
– All exceptional situations arouse the interest of criminals. It is a good time for them to strike. The attacks would not necessarily be limited to the state administration, adds a Traficom expert Jussi Eronen.
Intimidation messages on the website
Traficom’s cybersecurity briefing on Thursday looked at the ways in which Russia has sought to influence Ukraine’s cyber security during the war.
The information revealed that before Russia’s large-scale attack, the country sought to influence cyber security by means of intimidation.
– These include, for example, denial-of-service attacks on large sites such as banks and intimidation messages on a widely used website, Pahlman says.
According to him, Russia’s intimidation in Ukraine has been essentially influenced by information. This could be reflected in Finland after the NATO application materializes.
– If recent history repeats itself and Finland submits a NATO application, it may be that Russia has a choice in the choice of means. That is, information advocacy is more active and more denial of service attacks, Pahlman estimates.
The intense conflict in Ukraine has seen more concrete cyber-attacks on communications.
– We have learned from the war in Ukraine that, on a more serious level, Russia has introduced malware in cyber warfare and sought to influence, for example, energy production. It seems that hitting telecom operators and satellite connections, for example, is a more attractive option when the war is on.
Good preparation
The Cyber Security Center went into enhanced standby on February 24 when Russia launched an attack on Ukraine.
Since then, the Center has taken a wide range of activities to guide companies and organizations in cyber preparedness, among other things.
In Finland, cybersecurity has a long and functional tradition, says Pahlman. According to him, Finland’s strength is to prevent serious cases.
You can read in this article how Finnish operators are preparing for cyber attacks in Russia.