Area technology experts bracing for possible retaliatory Russian cyber attacks

Following stricter sanctions for Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, local technology experts said they're bracing for Russian cyber attacks in North Carolina. Experts said they fear Russia will 'strike back' in a digital space.

Posted 3:28 a.m. Mar 9, 2022 — Updated 4:01 a.m. Mar 9, 2022

Aaron Thomas

, WRAL reporter

They're warning individuals and businesses to stay vigilant while online.

"I wouldn't be surprised [if there's a cyber attack.] I'm scared to see what's next," said Talisha Gavin, who lives in Raleigh.

It’s a threat expert Grant Gibson, with Holly Springs company CIBR READY, said everyone should take seriously.

"Just because we haven't seen that major Russian attack from state does not mean that it's not under there bubbling somewhere that, maybe they're taking a longer play," said Gibson.

"Companies and organizations ... should definitely be taking this seriously," he added.

Gibson said most hackers try to gain access to user accounts by getting them to clink links or stating they’ve won something for free.

"We don't expect the state of Russia to be hacking into North Carolinian bank accounts anytime soon," said Gibson. "What we have seen – and we've seen this against our personal servers – is there is a lot of extra activity coming out of the Russian area."

He adds that since the Triangle is home to big tech companies, the area is more susceptible to cyber attacks.

"We do have a lot of technology, right here, at our doorstep," said Gibson. "They're better protected but there's a lot of people trying to get to them."

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The U.S. has already seen the crippling effects of a ransomware attack, including in 2021 when the Federal Bureau of Investigation blamed a Russian-linked hacking group for carrying out an attack that took down the main pipeline carrying gas to the Southeastern part of the country.

Gibson said there are several defense strategies that can be used for businesses and the everyday online user.

"They may not attack you; you may not get hacked but the odds that they have tempted to see if you're hackable — they probably have. You;re not immune to that if you're a business," said Gibson.

"[Hackers] are going to try to go online and look for passwords that have been compromised and try to access different accounts with them, so changing your passwords is a great thing to do right now ... maybe even enabling what we call multi-factor authentification," he said.