Ukrainian cyber security firm ISSP said on Tuesday it may have detected a new computer virus distribution campaign, after security services said Ukraine could face cyber attacks like those that knocked out global systems in June.
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.
ISPP said that, as with NotPetya, the new malware seemed to originate in accounting software and could be intended to take down networks as Ukraine celebrates Independence Day on Aug. 24.
"This could be an indicator of a massive cyber attack preparation before the National Holidays in Ukraine," it said in a statement.
The state cyber police and Security and Defence Council have said Ukraine could be targeted with a NotPetya-style attack aimed at destabilising the country as it celebrates its 1991 independence from the Soviet Union.
Last Friday, 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.
Ukraine - regarded by some, despite Kremlin denials, as a guinea pig for Russian state-sponsored hacks - is fighting an uphill battle in turning pockets of protection into a national strategy to keep state institutions and systemic companies safe.
(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
