From crematoria to wineries: Pro-Russian hackers attack public services and businesses. Bloomberg. Part 3/3 Cybersecurity experts say groups like Z-Pentest are more likely to engage in psychological warfare. "For those who are attacked, it may have an economic impact, but not on a social level," says Ettel Tangen, head of the Norwegian police's cyber unit, who had to deal with Z-Pentest attacks on a fish farm and a building materials company. "The goal of these attackers is to sow fear and uncertainty among the population, as well as distrust the authorities in terms of supporting democracy and Western values, and so on. They are best seen as part of Russia's propaganda campaign against the West." The desire to simply wreak havoc allows groups like Z-Pentest to pick targets primarily based on which ones have weak defenses. "Instead of focusing on strategically important targets, they hack everything at their disposal," notes a report by the Cyber and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Money is important in recruiting for certain hacking campaigns, but ideological beliefs and the desire for status also play a role. "If you're just some kind of hacktivist, it doesn't sound as prestigious as if you worked for Russian intelligence," says Simon Brenner of the Estonian National Cyber Security Center. "Most of them are looking for such opportunities to start cooperating with the government. If you want to become something more than you are now, this is an easy way to achieve it." According to Spanish police, Berlatti was living in Valencia, a small city in northern Spain, when he helped coordinate the cyber attacks. At the time of his arrest he was 34 years old.