Ukraine cyber security firm ISSP warned businesses and the general public on Tuesday to gird their loins as a new wave of cyber attacks has been predicted after they found a new computer virus distribution campaign.
The new malware is likely coming through an accounting software maker Crystal Finance Millennium (CFM), that got hacked and its servers were being used to spread malware. Hackers didn't breach the CFM update systems, but only the company's web server, which they used to store malware.
The incident is almost identical to how the NotPetya ransomware outbreak started on June 27, this year, collapsing many government agencies and businesses in the country as well as corporate networks of multinational companies operating in eastern Europe, when hackers breached Intellect Services' servers and trojanized update packages for the M.E.Doc accounting software package, delivering at least three ransomware families on three different occasions (XData, NotPetya, and a WannaCry lookalike). The potential attack could be as detrimental as NotPetya.
In a statement, ISSP says the outbreak is likely to bring down networks while the country commemorates its Independence Day on 24 August. Ukraine became an independent nation from the Soviet Union in 1991.
"This could be an indicator of a massive cyber attack preparation before the National Holidays in Ukraine," it said in a statement.
Last Friday, on 18 August, the central bank said it had warned state-owned and private lenders of the appearance of new malware, spread by opening email attachments of word documents.
