XakNet

XakNet is a notable threat actor, potentially aligned with Russian interests, that has been implicated in various cyber attacks. This group emerged prominently during Russia's conflict with Ukraine and the subsequent ban on Russia from the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The Russian government was suspected of encouraging or tacitly approving disruptive attacks by nationalistic Russian "hacktivist" groups like XakNet. These groups served as useful proxy forces to further Russia's strategic objectives while providing plausible deniability. In 2023, XakNet was identified as one of the most active Russian Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), indicating its significant cyber capabilities. This group, along with others such as KillNet and Cyber Army of Russia, have been linked to information operations against Western organizations and entities. Their activities are likely aimed at stoking fear or decreasing support for Ukraine. Notably, XakNet launched a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on the Israeli parliament's website in retaliation for Israel providing intelligence information on Iranian drones to Ukraine. These actions demonstrate XakNet's willingness to target high-profile entities and its capability to execute complex cyber attacks. The increasing activity of pro-Russian hacktivist groups like XakNet is a response to the sanctions imposed on Russia and other support provided by the U.S. and its allies to Ukraine. Most of their activities consist of Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks. Researchers have suggested that these groups, including XakNet, act as fronts to share information obtained illegally by state-backed groups, further highlighting their potential ties to Russian security services. Given their demonstrated capabilities and aggressive tactics, XakNet and similar groups represent a significant cyber threat.