Russia - At least two Russian hacktivist groups have claimed responsibility for cyberattacks.
 
The groups also said they had launched "Distributed Denial of Service" (DDoS) strikes on several Canadian agencies and organizations in recent days including Canadian Pacific Railway.
 
Both indicate they are taking aim at countries that back Ukraine as it tries to fend off Russia's unprovoked and bloody invasion.
 
But one cyber security expert said the attacks amount to little more than an irritation, and shouldn't be seen as a sign that Moscow's hackers pose a serious threat to Canadian digital safety.
 
"They are very much nuisance-level attacks. They can cause no damage, and they cause minimal disruption," said Brett Callow, a B.C.-based threat analyst with the company Emisoft.
 
"This is what they do. It's primarily an information operation. They are wanting people to be concerned over these attacks, to think they may be more serious than they actually are. Their intention is that this will erode government support for Ukraine."
 
A DDoS attack involves using multiple computers, called a botnet, to essentially overload the targeted system with requests, preventing others from accessing it.
 
Killnet and NoName057 are among several collections of hackers that have vowed to wage cyber warfare on behalf of the Kremlin.
 
Others are doing the same for Ukraine.
 
"Get used to it Russophobes, while you are sponsoring (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy's criminal regime, your websites will lie down, and the economies of your countries will suffer losses from their inoperability," NoName057 declared on the communications app Telegram.
 
The Russian groups undoubtedly have links to their country’s security services, said Callow.
 
Either they have members from intelligence agencies, are directed by those spy organizations, or are actually fronts for them, he said.
 
According to SITE Intelligence, Killnet launched DDoS attacks on the prime minister's office, the Canadian Transportation Agency, Pearson airport, Statistics Canada, the National Capital Commission, bus manufacturers New Flyer Industries, Prevost, Nova Bus Inc., the Hamilton-Oshawa, Quebec, Halifax, and Port Alberni port authorities, the Laurentian Bank, the Senate, and CP.
 
Even so, Callow said he's seen no evidence they have managed to inflict any serious harm on Canadian systems, despite their sometimes "outrageous" assertions.
 
The only real damage from DDoS is the diversion of an organization's resources to respond and ensure no serious incursion happened, he said.
 
Author unknown.