British firms warned to bolster cyber defences against threat of new Russian attacks (From Sky News)

Deborah Haynes Security and Defence Editor @haynesdeborah

Ukraine was hit on 14 January by what Ukrainian officials described as a "massive cyber attack" that targeted some 70 government websites. The attack was suspected to have been carried out by Russia - which the Kremlin denies.

Britain's cyber security centre has urged UK organisations to check their cyber defences because of concern about the potential for new Russian cyber attacks linked to tensions with Ukraine.

The public-facing arm of the spy agency GCHQ encouraged everyone to read new guidance published on its website entitled: "Actions to take when the cyber threat is heightened."

Paul Chichester, director of operations at the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), said: "While we are unaware of any specific cyber threats to UK organisations in relation to events in Ukraine, we are monitoring the situation closely and it is vital that organisations follow the guidance to ensure they are resilient.

"Over several years, we have observed a pattern of malicious Russian behaviour in cyber space. Last week's incidents in Ukraine bear the hallmarks of similar Russian activity we have observed before."

Ukraine was hit on 14 January by what Ukrainian officials described as a "massive cyber attack" that targeted some 70 government websites.

Oleksiy Danilov, the top security adviser to Ukraine's president, told Sky News at the time that he was 99.9% sure Russia was behind the assault.

Read the full article from Sky News here: https://news.sky.com/story/british-firms-warned-to-check-their-cyber-defences-over-fears-of-new-russian-attacks-12526947