Microsoft: 237 cyberattacks on Ukraine

Russian or Russian-backed cyber attacks on Ukraine are seen as part of Russia’s “hybrid warfare”, the US tech giant wrote in Relationship.

These are attacks on authorities and companies to disrupt their operations, steal information and reduce trust in government.

Deleted data

The day before the invasion began, hundreds of targets were attacked in the government, information technology, energy, and financial sectors of Ukraine. These were the so-called wiper attacks, which were intended to delete data. According to Microsoft, close representatives of Russian intelligence were behind the attacks.

Hackers use password phishing and look for vulnerabilities in systems, such as legacy systems.

In some cases, there have been cyberattacks associated with targets being attacked on the ground. For example, a television company was attacked by cyberattacks on the same day that the Kyiv TV tower was attacked. Regarding the start of the Mariupol siege, emails were sent to the Ukrainians from a Russian representative who pretended to be Ukrainian, accusing the Ukrainian government of abandoning the people.

Attacks are expected to increase

However, Microsoft cannot say for sure whether these attacks were coordinated, or whether they had similar goals.

The tech giant says they are working with Ukrainian authorities to respond to the threats, and that, among other things, they have detected and warned of malicious code in a number of networks. Microsoft has also established secure communication channels from the company to some of the key people in the cybersecurity field in Ukraine.

“We believe that cyber attacks will continue to increase as the conflict intensifies,” Microsoft wrote.