The Ukrainian central bank warned state-owned and private lenders of the appearance of new the NotPetya-like attack that would target national businesses.

On Friday, the Ukrainian central bank warned of new malware-based attack risk. According to the Reuters, the Ukrainian central bank warned state-owned and private lenders of the spreading of new infections like the NotPetya attack that hit the critical infrastructure of the country in June.

“The Ukrainian central bank said on Friday it had warned state-owned and private lenders of the appearance of new malware as security services said Ukraine faced cyber attacks like those that knocked out global systems in June.” states post published by the Reuters.

“The June 27 attack, dubbed NotPetya, took down many Ukrainian government agencies and businesses, before spreading rapidly through corporate networks of multinationals with operations or suppliers in eastern Europe.”

The Ukrainian central bank is closely working with the national CERT and local authorities to improve the resilience to cyber attacks of its critical infrastructures, especially the ones of the Ukrainian banking sector.

“Therefore on Aug. 11…, the central bank promptly informed banks about the appearance of new malicious code, its features, compromise indicators and the need to implement precautionary measures to prevent infection,” the central bank told Reuters in emailed comments.

The Reuters has seen the letter sent by the Ukrainian central bank to the national banks, the message warns of a new strain of malware is spread via phishing email using weaponized word documents.

The experts warn of a possible massive cyber attack on Ukrainian companies, the malicious code is currently able to evade antivirus solutions.

“The nature of this malicious code, its mass distribution, and the fact that at the time of its distribution it was not detected by any anti-virus software, suggest that this attack is preparation for a mass cyber-attack on the corporate networks of Ukrainian businesses,” the letter said.

Of course, the first suspect according to the experts is Russia that has many interests in the country, in many cases, Ukraine blamed the Kremlin for cyber attacks on its infrastructure, including the power grid and financial systems.

The state cyber police and Security and Defence Council already warned of a potential imminent cyber attack against Ukraine. Authorities believe Ukraine could be targeted on Aug. 24 with a NotPetya-style massive attack aimed at destabilizing the country as it celebrates its 1991 independence from the Soviet Union.

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – NotPetya, Ukrainian central bank)

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