Russian Cyberwar in Ukraine Stumbles Just Like Conventional One
The Russian cyber threat, like President Vladimir Putin’s army, was expected to overwhelm Ukraine’s capacities quickly.
Residents use the internet from the Starlink network, set up by the Ukrainian army in Kherson, Ukraine, on Nov. 13, 2022.
Photographer: Andrii Dubchak/Donbas Frontliner/Zaborona/Getty Images
Even before Russia invaded Ukraine, its hacking offensive was well under way.
Suspected Russian hackers targeted Ukrainian government and financial websites with so-called distributed denial-of-service attacks aimed at creating chaos; they bombarded government, nonprofit and IT organizations with malicious software designed to render computers inoperable; and, in a broadside widely blamed on Russia, they zeroed in on Viasat Inc.’s commercial satellite network, causing major disruptions in Ukrainian communications, including for military units, at a crucial early stage in the war.