US and European allies blame Russia for cyber attack on satellite provider as Ukraine invasion begins

“The United States joins our allies and partners in condemning Russia’s destructive cyber activities against Ukraine,” US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement. statment Tuesday.

The cyber attack on the satellite network owned by the US-based telecommunications company Visat One of the most important results Cyber ​​incidents of war in Ukraine. It disrupted communications in Ukraine an hour before the all-out Russian invasion, according to an EU statement, and collateral damage included the offline routes of thousands of wind turbines in satellite-reliant Germany.

Viktor Zora, a senior Ukrainian cyber official, described the March 15 hack as “a really big loss of communications at the start of the war.” The primary target of the hack is “believed to be the Ukrainian army”, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Tuesday said.

Blinken’s statement also blamed Russian military hackers for a series of data-crunching hacks on Ukrainian government agencies and companies before and after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The breakthrough before the invasion may have been an attempt by the Kremlin to extract concessions from the Ukrainian government, According to Microsoft analysts.

The department said USAID contractors are “providing practical support” for Ukrainian government agencies and critical infrastructure to identify malware and reboot systems. Meanwhile, the FBI has been briefing Ukrainian officials about hacking by Russian intelligence services and receiving evidence about cyber threats for the FBI to investigate, according to the State Department.

CNN has requested comment from the Russian Embassy in Washington.

The European Council said in a statement that the cyber attack was “another example of the continuing pattern of Russia’s irresponsible behavior in cyberspace, which also formed an integral part of its unlawful and unjustified invasion of Ukraine.”