A war of another kind broke out before the actual war in Ukraine. The day before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, significant government positions in the capital, Kiev, as well as the seat of the Government, Parliament, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other state institutions were paralyzed.
Ukraine held Moscow responsible for the cyber attack. Such a Russian attack on Ukraine occurred in 2017 with a "Notpete" scanner, which caused considerable economic damage.
Cyberspace is a battlefield.
So far, with actual combat on the ground in Ukraine, cyberspace at least remains a secondary theater of war. Ukraine is now not only mobilizing its army, but also information technology experts in the country. According to the Reuters news agency, the government in Kiev was looking for volunteers capable of counteracting attacks by Russian pirates and launching their own attacks on Russia's important information technology infrastructure.
External assistance is also obtained from the "Anymos" pirate group, which has declared a digital war on the Kremlin. Since February 26, many government sites in Russia have been shut down, and it is believed that “Anymos” pirates are behind this.
As the conflict unfolds, experts predict an increase in Russian cyber attacks, with a focus on information leading to false news.
A hybrid war.
Some wonder whether these attacks help to identify the winner of the conflict? Cyber security experts doubt that. "We are talking about a heated conflict here where people are dying because of explosions. I don't know if someone infiltrating Russian Defense Ministry data will be decisive in determining the fate of war."
But it is very clear that Russia is using the siloviki war through a method of mixed warfare or what is known as hybrid, not only by attacking the information technology infrastructure. The Mesopotamian attacks become part of modern psychological warfare, as shown by Herr Rehman. "This is a sign of the population's confidence to destroy their ability to resist."
The Military Digital Manipulation
In some cases, digital relays can have a very specific effect on the course of war. But the greater the digitization of the army, the greater the area of attack it provides. For example, Russian pirates tried to penetrate the applications used to control the Ukrainian artillery weapon. With such a procedure, according to Herr Raad, one can obtain, for example, geographical data to bomb cannon positions.
Attacking Russian positions around the world and paralyzing sites like Rerem Mirce.ru may have a propaganda effect, yet IT expert Herr Rahm doubts the influence of Russian decision-makers, and points out that the pirate attack draws the attention of Russian authorities to security lapses that Western and Ukrainian secret services may already be monitoring. "Thus, this pain is burned, which makes the work of the intelligence services difficult. It is a problem," said Herr Shahid.
As the conflict unfolds, experts predict that Russiancyber attacks will escalate, with a focus on informationleading to God. Last Friday (February 25, 20th), several German newspapers announced cyber attacks on their sites and social media, and suspected the "pro-Russian Khalillel campaign."
Will Russia also target the infrastructure of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on a large scale? Experts doubt such a step. The possibility of activating article 5 (case of the coalition) in El Nito cannot be ruled out in the event of an electronic attack on its State. Herr Mahmood believes that “if an electronic process has effects that would be equivalent to the motor process, an electronic attack will also trigger Article 5. It is all about impact”.
The German Ministry of the Interior does not see any possible danger of such an attack at the moment, yet the authorities are ready, according to a spokesman for the ministry.
(Signed) Fidell Taube