WORCESTER, Mass. - Just hours before Russia attacked Ukraine, the country was dealing with its second cyberattack in a week.

After Russia's invasion, there's a warning to brace for more cyberattacks as the conflict escalates.

The director of Assumption University’s Cybersecurity Program said attacks are sometimes used as a precursor to disrupting critical infrastructure of a government, or organization prior to a full out invasion.

Professor Ray Albert said while cyberattacks are not new, their severity is growing. Albert said investigators are constantly working to see where the attacks come from.

"It's no surprise that many of these groups or organizations have financial ties to the backing state agencies or nation states,” Albert said. “So, for example, if a nation state supports a particular attacker group and the attacker group happens to be attributed as the authors of a particular piece of malware, then you can kind of put the pieces together and lead to a conclusion fairly safely” said Albert.

Albert is encouraging everyone to be cautious when opening links online. The school's cybersecurity program started in 2018 and will see their first graduating class this spring.