As Russia invaded Ukraine, it was thought to cripple the country with massive cyber attacks. They came, but Ukraine did not stop.
Russia’s armed invasion of Ukraine has lasted three months, but the war on information networks has been going on for years. Still, Ukraine’s data networks and the energy supply through them, for example, are still working.
It can mean two things: either Russia will not be able to knock down networks in Ukraine, or it will not.
In reality, it may be both.
Russia needs Ukrainian networks for its own operations, as its troops use mobile networks for their communications and also need various other network-based services.
If Russia’s goal is or has been to annex Ukraine to Russia, there would be no point in destroying the networks – no one is burning the house they are going to live in.
– Russia weighs in the fact that a functioning network in Ukraine has both advantages and disadvantages for them. Obviously, the scale has tended to be more beneficial, says a lecturer in security and strategic analysis at the University of Jyväskylä. Panu Moilanen.
Networks for Ukraine are useful, for example, in ensuring that Ukrainians, including the country’s leadership, can communicate effectively with the world. Russia, on the other hand, is not interested in it.
– Russia’s war-related communications and propaganda to Ukraine are currently aimed mainly at Russians. Russia can hardly see that it can change much, for example, our Westerners’ perception of war and the status of its parties, Moilanen says.
Hard to destroy, expensive to build
Rebuilding the destroyed network would be extremely costly for Russia. The equipment and technology needed are behind economic sanctions, and perhaps only available from China.
Crashing or destroying the internet is also tricky. The network is designed to be impact resistant and there are many ways for information to travel. Moilanen compares the structure of the Internet to the metropolitan metro.
– If I’m going to Berlin from Treptower Park to the Brandenburg Gate, there are many possible routes. If one of the routes is broken, I will get there through another.
– There has been information about network damage. Some have certainly been destroyed on purpose, some have been destroyed as a by-product of the war, says a leading expert on Finnish Private Networks Tomi Lounema.
A functioning network improves resilience
More people have fled Ukraine during the war than there are inhabitants in Finland. A functioning network will improve the crisis resilience of both fugitives and those in Ukraine.
The importance of the network is illustrated, for example, by the broadband connections to the shelters in Ukraine.
– People can get information about relatives of relatives and relatives. Not knowing what belongs to them will have a significant impact on sustainability, says Lounema.
Lounema says that networks should generally remain open to citizens, even in very difficult situations. The ability to tolerate interference situations is maintained as communication works and information flows.
Ukraine has urgently sent repairers to the site, especially in the event of damage to the mobile network.
– There has been a very sacrificial attitude towards maintenance. When something is broken, it is set to be repaired with defiance, Lounema says.
The Starlink satellite internet system is also in use in Ukraine. There are about ten thousand of its terminals in the country.
The network has been at war for years
Ukraine is a European power and communication technology superpower. There is a wealth of know-how, expertise and companies in the field.
Ukraine has also had eight years to practice. There has been a war in the network at least since Russia conquered the Crimean peninsula in 2014, and all the while Ukraine has been developing the protection of its networks.
– Eastern Ukraine has been at war every day for eight years. It creates an understanding of the circumstances and what all can happen, Lounema says.
Ukraine’s cyber defense looks successful, but two NATO security experts writes in Foreign Affairs (go to another service)that it is a visual illusion. According to them, Russia has waged a very effective cyber war in Ukraine, it has just not been as totally effective and destructive as it was before.
Panu Moilanen confirms that Russia has won on the cyber front.
– They have succeeded in penetrating Ukraine’s energy transmission networks, among other things. Russia’s cyber-influencing capabilities are significant, and they have also been used, says Panu Moilanen.
The online war extends to Finland
The war on the net is ongoing, and it is also waged by countries that are not in apparent war with anyone. This war will not dodge Finland either.
In cyberspace and Russian thinking, war and peace are not separate black and white, but the extremes of the thirst.
– In this thinking, war and peace will never come to fruition. War is always present, its intensity only varies, says Moilanen.
You can discuss the topic until 11 pm on May 29, 2022.