Cyberspace as a theater of war

In the war against Ukraine, Russia is not satisfied with physical and psychological combat operations: Virtual attacks are also increasingly taking place. According to Microsoft, around 42 countries have been attacked by Russian hackers in the past four months.

Experts from the US hardware and software developer Microsoft have noticed an increase in Russian hacker attacks since the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. According to the experts, 128 organizations from 42 countries were or are affected by the cyber attacks.

As Microsoft President Brad Smith reported on the Microsoft Blog, Russian troops attacked the Ukrainian government’s data center at the beginning of the war. According to Smith, Ukraine was able to overcome these attacks by the government moving its digital infrastructure to the cloud.

As the war progressed, Russian hackers launched cyberattacks against 48 Ukrainian organizations to destroy software and data. Although some attacks were successful, the overall defense was good, according to Microsoft. However, the Russian IT attacks were not limited to Ukraine itself, as the Microsoft report further reveals. The most important target besides Ukraine was the USA. Other attacks were aimed at Poland, for example, which coordinated humanitarian aid for Ukraine.

According to the Microsoft President’s report, Russia’s cyber attacks are particularly aimed at government computers of NATO member states. However, non-governmental organizations, IT companies, energy companies and other important infrastructure operators are also affected in the cyberspace as a theater of war.

According to Microsoft, the joint defense options are low because the defense mechanisms are unequally distributed in the individual countries. Learn more.

Source: Brad Smith / Microsoft Blog