Russian threat actors poised to cripple power grid, UK warns

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UK government escalates cyber rhetoric in a speech at a Nato event, saying Russian advanced persistent threats stand ready to conduct cyber attacks that could ‘turn off the lights for millions’

By

Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Published: 26 Nov 2024 8:30

The UK government has warned that cyber threat actors operating on behalf of the Russian regime have already orchestrated cyber attacks against UK media, telecoms, political and democratic institutions, and critical national infrastructure (CNI), and are poised to conduct even more devastating attacks.

Speaking at the Nato Cyber Defence Conference in London , Pat McFadden, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said: “With a cyber attack, Russia can turn off the lights for millions of people. It can shut down power grids.

“That is the hidden war Russia is waging in Ukraine, and in the last year, both the Russian military and its unofficial army of cyber criminals and hacktivists have not just stepped up their attacks, but widened their targets to a number of Nato members and partners. The aim is to gain a strategic advantage, to degrade the states that support Ukraine,” he said.

McFadden also called out Moscow’s use of cyber criminal gangs and mercenary hacktivist operations that are not directly controlled by the Kremlin but are allowed to act with impunity as long as they don’t act against Russia’s interests.

He revealed that such gangs had targeted the South Korean state in response to its monitoring of Russia’s deployment of North Korean troops to the Kursk region of Ukraine .

“Russian state-aligned groups have taken responsibility for at least nine separate cyber attacks of varying severity against Nato states, including unprovoked attacks against our critical national infrastructure,” said McFadden.

“The activity of these groups isn’t something new, or something that has just been happening in recent months. They are unpredictable; they act with disregard for the potential geopolitical consequences and, with just one miscalculation, could wreak havoc.

“The UK and others in this room are watching Russia. We know exactly what they are doing, and we are countering their attacks both publicly and behind the scenes. We know from history that appeasing dictators engaged in aggression against their neighbours only encourages them. Britain learned long ago … Read More