The Russian invasion of Ukraine was preceded by a large-scale cyber attack, which signals the beginning of a completely new form of war, said the president of Microsoft.
Speaking at a Microsoft Envision event in London, Brad Smith revealed that it was known about possible attacks on Ukraine shortly before the physical invasion.
The campaign was then able to gather its resources not only to suppress the initial attacks, but also to help Ukrainian defenders organize a response to what Smith called “the first major hybrid war.”
Hybrid warfare
Returning to the original “epochs” of war, which covered ground, sea and air attacks, respectively, Smith noted that the war has now reached the “fourth plain”: cyber.
The campaign had three main responsibilities: to support the government, to protect the nation and to protect the people.
Smith said that a week before the war, the Ukrainian government was working on the spot. However, fears of an invasion grew, Microsoft began to act, and “within a few days” 16 of the 17 government ministries and a number of key Ukrainian companies were transferred to cloud.
Importantly, Smith noted, this cloud was located outside of Ukraine for added security – a step that was facilitated by the fact that Microsoft spent $ 12 billion to build data centers across Europe.
“The best way to protect a country during a war is to ensure its continuity by spraying its digital assets,” he said. “You’re safest when people don’t know where your data is.”
Also before the physical invasion Smith noted that the conflict actually started online as a fox blade malware was launched on up to 300 Ukrainian targets.
“The first shells were fired into cyberspace,” he said, describing how seven different units in three parts of the Russian government launched attacks. Unlike the NotPetya attack used during the previous Russian invasion, these attacks were clearly targeted using a wave of software to clean up Ukrainian infrastructure.
“As the war continues, we have seen not only the spread of attacks, but sometimes a combination of attacks,” he said, noting that Microsoft had identified 237 different operations and 40 destructive attacks targeting hundreds of systems ahead. Physical attacks. The time between cyberattacks and ground attacks has also been reduced from days to hours and sometimes minutes, he said, emphasizing one cyberattack aimed at a nuclear power plant, with a physical attack that occurred hours later.
Looking ahead, Smith noted that Microsoft’s role is now focused on several fronts, including disrupting Russian disinformation, protecting people on the ground and holding accountable for war crimes committed during the conflict.
“We need to develop defensive capabilities to combat such cyberattacks,” he said.
“When we think about the war in Ukraine, when we think about what it takes to support and sustain this government … I think we also need to think about what it means for our place in the world … a lot in what gift we are given an attack ”.
“We must all acknowledge that we are working together to support not only Ukraine but the whole world.”
https://www.techradar.com/news/microsoft-says-ukraine-cyber-conflict-is-the-first-hybrid-war/
