Zhadnost Botnet Launches DDoS Campaigns Against Ukrainian Targets

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is present online as well. It seems that Russian cybercriminals are using a previously unknown botnet in order to carry out distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against Ukrainian individuals and entities. The project, dubbed Zhadnost Botnet, is relatively small. It contains around 3,000 hosts, which are being used to launch HTTP flood attacks against Ukrainian networks.

It would appear that the criminals orchestrating the Zhadnost Botnet are targeting routers primarily. While we don't have data about the exact models and manufacturers affected by the attack, you can rest assured that the best way to prevent your router from becoming a part of the botnet is by applying the latest firmware updates and security patches. Projects like the Zhadnost Botnet typically spread by exploiting vulnerabilities in older hardware that has not received the necessary software upgrades yet.

While the Zhadnost Botnet's ability to take down networks is undeniable, it is certainly one of the smaller botnets that cybersecurity experts have noticed. The consequences from its attacks are not major, and typically networks that were taken down were restored relatively quickly.