Russian hackers launched multiple cyber attacks against Ukraine, which allegedly supported Moscow’s military operations and cyber-propaganda campaigns, Microsoft said in a report released Wednesday.
The incidents reported in the report, some of which have not been disclosed to date, suggest that cyberattacks have played a more important role in this war than was known to the general public.
The digital attack, which, according to Microsoft, began a year before the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it is probable that he laid the foundations for various military operations in the country, the researchers report.
Between February 23 and April 8, Microsoft reported a total of 37 catastrophic Russian cyber-attacks in Ukraine.
The Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The report’s findings highlight that digital and military blows can now be combined in war.
“Russian generals and spies “They tried to integrate cyberattacks into the war campaign while facing difficulties on the battlefield,” said Thomas Reed, a professor of strategic studies at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
Microsoft says Russia’s cyber-attacks and military operations have worked “together against a common goal.” The technology company notes that it could not decide whether this correlation was due to coordinated decision-making or simply to common goals.
For example, in a timetable published in the Microsoft report, it is noted that on March 1 – the day a Russian missile hit a television tower in Kyiv – media companies in the Ukrainian capital were attacked by hackers.
In another case, there were “suspicious” Russian moves in critical infrastructure in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, two weeks before the region’s extended power outage on March 3.
The next day, Microsoft reported that Russian hackers had broken into a government network in Vinnytsia, central Ukraine. Two days later, rockets leveled the city’s airport.
Viktor Zora, Ukraine’s top cybersecurity official, said today that he still sees Russian cyber-attacks on telecommunications companies and power transmission system operators. “We should not underestimate Russian hackers, but also not to overestimate their potential“, write down.
He thanked Microsoft, the US government and European allies for their support in cybersecurity.
Since the start of the war, academics and analysts have said that Russia appeared to be less active in cyberspace than expected.
Two weeks ago the US government publicly unveiled a cyber weapon, known as Pipedream, designed for attacks on industrial units. Although it was not associated with Russia, it is considered extremely dangerous and its discovery coincides with the war in Ukraine.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news
I have over 8 years of experience in the news industry. I have worked for various news websites and have also written for a few news agencies. I mostly cover healthcare news, but I am also interested in other topics such as politics, business, and entertainment. In my free time, I enjoy writing fiction and spending time with my family and friends.
