Russia’s “invasion” of cybersecurity and operations in Ukraine – Why the US accuses it

Just 48 hours after the collapse of banking and government websites in Ukraine under the weight of a coordinated cyber attack on February 15 and 16, the United States said that Russian spies were hiding behind the attack.

Anne Neuberger, the White House’s deputy national security adviser for cyberspace and emerging technologies, said the United States had “technical information linking the Russian Central Intelligence Agency (GRU)” to the DDoS attack that had overwhelmed and destroyed several Ukrainians. “The GRU infrastructure appeared to transmit a large volume of communication to IP addresses and domains based in Ukraine,” he told reporters on February 18. The cyber-attack is believed to have sparked panic in Ukraine as more than 150,000 Russian troops gathered at the border.

The speed with which US and UK officials have been able to take responsibility reflects a huge shift from the past and shows how rapid accountability has become a critical tool in cyber-conflict for the United States. In recent years, the United States has used it as a geopolitical tool more often than any other country in the world, often collaborating with allies in the UK — especially when the target is Russia, as happened last week.

“I will note that the speed with which we did this performance is very unusual,” Neuberger said. “We did it because of the need to quickly identify behavior as part of the responsibility of nations when they engage in disruptive or destabilizing cyber activity,” he said.

This new policy has its roots in what happened in the aftermath of the 2016 US election. Gavin Wilde, a former senior Russian National Security Council official, helped write the notable assessment hacking and misinformation campaigns in Moscow aimed at influencing the elections. It took a tremendous effort, prompted by President Obama himself, with the support of Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, to simply begin the process of sharing all relevant US intelligence services in the same room across a wide range of rating levels. The incidents seem to be many in other countries as well.

How Russia and China are spying on companies in the Netherlands

A recent NYtimes report revealed that secret services from China and Russia systematically approach thousands of employees of Dutch high-tech companies through fake LinkedIn accounts. According to the article, they present themselves as fellow scientists or technicians, or consultants or recruits and try to reach the secrets of the company through blackmail or bribery. This information was published by Financieele Dagblad’s research based on sources from the AIVD.

The investigation further showed that China and Russia are working very systematically, AIVD director Erik Akerboom told the newspaper. “Social networks like LinkedIn or Instagram are constantly being copied and stored in databases. They analyze them to find their targets. They are people who have access to specialized technological knowledge. Data is combined with information from direct intrusions into their organization. which specific personal data are sought “, he pointed out characteristically.

After the first contact via LinkedIn, the spies quickly make the relationship “more personal”. They flatter their target about their knowledge and expertise. It is noteworthy that two Russian spies expelled from the Netherlands in 2020 first approached their victims on LinkedIn, according to Financieele Dagblad.

Intelligence officials identify Russian attempts to interfere in Australian politics

Another ABC report reported that Russia has been recognized as one of the main countries trying to intervene in the Republic of Australia, with intelligence services monitoring Moscow’s ongoing efforts to influence politics in the country. A current intelligence source and a government source have confirmed that the country’s domestic intelligence service, ASIO, has recently investigated at least one major attempt to support pro-Russian figures in an unspecified Australian political struggle.

Most of the details of the conspiracy remain hidden, but ABC has confirmed that it concerns an Australian-based man with close ties to the regime of President Vladimir Putin. In recent years, politicians have become increasingly cautious about Chinese attempts to infiltrate political parties, but members of the national security community say Russian conspiracies are also at the forefront.

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