Last week, the Department of Justice unsealed indictments, which charged multiple employees of the Russian government for their roles in the targeted hacking of critical infrastructure in the United States and across the world over the past decade. The campaigns “targeted thousands of computers, at hundreds of companies and organizations, in approximately 135 countries.”

“The value of unsealing the details surrounding these coordinated attacks is simple. It is the government flagging the issue for businesses and vulnerable organizations. Amid global tension, it is likely that American interests will find themselves in the crosshairs of hackers yet again,” said Richard Gardner, CEO of Modulus, a US-based developer of ultra-high-performance trading and surveillance technology that powers global equities, derivatives, and digital asset exchanges.

“Businesses, municipalities, and other organizations should be adding to their cybersecurity budgets. The coming months will test American cyber-readiness. It is important to take the threat seriously,” said Gardner.

"The conduct alleged in these charges is the kind of conduct that we are concerned about under the current circumstances and has been addressed by various parts of the federal government," a senior FBI official told reporters. "These charges show the dark art of the possible when it comes to critical infrastructure."

“When we talk about critical infrastructure, we’re talking about attacks on the energy sector and other core pieces of the economy which dovetail into national security readiness. These attacks, which were revealed in the unsealing of documents illustrate the kinds of attacks that may be possible,” said Gardner.

"Access to such systems would have provided the Russian government the ability to, among other things, disrupt and damage such computer systems at a future time of its choosing," the Justice Department said. It is said that the hacking campaigns were part of a Russian attempt to "maintain surreptitious, unauthorized and persistent access to the computer networks of companies and organizations in the international energy sector, including oil and gas firms, nuclear power plants, and utility and power transmission companies."

“Americans often take for granted our electric supply. We don’t consider what would happen if it was under attack. However, the implications of a foreign power controlling, even small segments of, our energy resources, could be catastrophic,” said Gardner. “Given that those charged do not live in the United States, it is unlikely that they will ultimately be prosecuted. This move by the DOJ was a strategic warning: get your cyber policies in order. Now that digital assets are so mainstream, imagine how such a coordinated attack could affect the financial sector."

Modulus is known throughout the financial technology segment as a leader in the development of ultra-high frequency trading systems and blockchain technologies. Modulus has provided its exchange solution to some of the industry’s most profitable digital asset exchanges, including a well-known multi-billion-dollar cryptocurrency exchange. Over the past twenty years, the company has built technology for the world’s most notable institutions, with a client list which includes NASA, NASDAQ, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Barclays, Siemens, Shell, Yahoo!, Microsoft, Cornell University, and the University of Chicago.

According to the indictment, the FSB officers were able to install malware on "more than 17,000 unique devices in the United States and abroad, including computer networks used by some power and energy companies. In the second phase, they carried out targeted spearphishing attacks against more than 3300 individuals from more than 500 U.S. and international companies, including U.S. agencies like the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.”