MIVD sees an increasing number of ‘influencing operations’ on the internet

The military intelligence service, the MIVD, has published its annual report. In it, the service writes that the number of ‘influencing operations’ via the Internet is increasing. Russia plays a prominent role in the report. The country would make more use of ‘hybrid warfare’.

In the report, the military intelligence service writes that ‘more and more countries have the opportunity to gather intelligence via the digital domain’. This is because it is a cheap drug that works quickly and involves few risks. According to the intelligence service, ‘more than a hundred countries’ would have the possibility of hacking. The influencing operations are not new, but the MIVD observes higher numbers. “Cyber ​​operations hack accounts that extract sensitive information that is later published by an apparently independent party,” the service writes.

Hackers would also use increasingly better techniques to penetrate networks. The service refers to well-known techniques such as spear phishing, infected USB sticks and watering hole attacks. In addition, there are more attacks with malware, which is, for example, ‘injected via Wi-Fi networks’. The service also sees more attacks on hardware. The MIVD also warns against ‘the increasing threat of offensive cyber’, ie military offensive capabilities in the digital domain. Moreover, the initiatives to counter a digital arms race would not yet reach the same level as those in the physical domain.

On Russia, the agency says the country is increasingly using “hybrid warfare,” defining it as “achieving political-strategic goals by using all political, military, economic, information, intelligence, and cyber assets.” , without there being any open conflict between two states’. In doing so, Russia would rely heavily on its national intelligence service and focus on “national elections, playing on public opinion and dismissing traditional media as unreliable.”