Organisations across the world have been warned of the potential threat of Russian cyberattacks.
The Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance, which is made up of agencies from the US, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand – has said Russia could launch the attacks as a response to sanctions imposed following its invasion of Ukraine.
It said the war could expose organisations everywhere to cybercrime.
Speaking on Morning Ireland, Pat Moran, Cybersecurity Leader at PwC said although there have been no significant cyberattacks to date, the situation is now extremely dangerous.
"We have seen the Conti Russian criminal gang, who we know from the HSE attacks last year, have already gone public and said they will attack the critical infrastructure of any country who gets in the way of what Russia is trying to do.
"So this is quite a worrying area for the world," he said.
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Here in Ireland, Mr Moran said he believes we have made good strides when it comes to putting organisations on high alert – particularly the critical ones.
"Our areas such as the National Cyber Security Centre and different Government agencies are working with industry to make sure that in the event of an attack or a disruption, that organisations are well prepared for it," he said.
If these cyberattacks do take place, Mr Moran said they will be focused on critical infrastructure.
"The concentration will be on areas where organisations and individuals are depending on critical services - so some examples of that would be water, energy and transportation," he said.
"These are particular areas where Governments across the world are helping organisations to make sure their defence mechanisms are robust and resilient enough to sustain an attack," he said.
A new PwC report published today reveals that almost half of businesses have reported experiencing fraud or financial crime over the last two years.
The economic crime and fraud report surveyed 1,296 business leaders from across 53 countries including Ireland.
70% of the organisations that experienced new incidents of fraud said it was as a result of Covid-19 disruptions.
In Ireland, Mr Moran said we have seen increased levels of cybercrime since the onset of the pandemic, particularly phishing and ransomware attacks.
"These have been partially driven by increased remote working and also by an increased sophistication of the cyber criminals," he said.
"We continue to be a target for cyber criminals due to our large concentration of foreign direct investment.
"Although the government has recently strengthened our national defences, we continue to be on high alert," he said.
The survey shows that nearly two-thirds of tech, media and telecommunications businesses have experienced some form of fraud over the last two years - the highest incidence of any industry.
The report also reveals a reveals a rise in supply chain fraud.
Mr Moran said this is an interesting trend that is emerging.
"We're seeing that criminals are actually attacking where organisations are most vulnerable and are looking at where they have third parties, such as business partners and suppliers who have access to the organisation’s network - and perhaps the third parties’ security and controls aren’t as robust and resilient as the organisation themselves," he explained.
According to the findings, larger companies are at greater risk for fraud, with nearly 20% of such companies experiencing fraud costing over $50 million.
In this year's survey results, cybercrime came in ahead of customer fraud, the most common global crime in 2020, by a substantial margin.
