On Monday, September 9, German domestic intelligence agency Bundesverfassungsschutz pointed out the dangerous nature of a cyber group UNC2589-further named Cadet Blizzard or Ember Bear. The warning was publicly given through X social media (formerly known as Twitter) in cooperation with international partners, the FBI, U.S.
A red flag by European officials shows the extent of concern it has with Russian cyber involvement, primarily since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022. This wasn't the first over this year, that Berlin blamed Moscow for being the mastermind of the recent attacks against the ruling Social Democrats of Germany and key industries covering logistics, defense, and aerospace, while other media reports have it that the IT and logistics industries were equally affected.
According to the Bundesverfassungsschutz, UNC2589 "conducts espionage and sabotage, often accompanied by website defacements and leak of exfiltrated data". The group belongs to the GRU Unit 29155-known for its purported previous attacks targeting the poisoning of a former Russian double agent Sergey Skripal and his daughter Yulia back in 2018.
Coordinating these warnings underlines one uniformed international position, showing the increasingly refined state-sponsored cyber operations. As the world continues to grapple with the cybersecurity challenge, especially in Europe, this warning provides an important milestone of recognition for the persistence and evolution of such threats faced in the digital arena.