White House cybersecurity chief Anne Neuberger begins a European tour aimed at increasing security and preparing responses to possible Russian cyberattacks. While the world is wondering about the intentions of Russia, which has massed tens of thousands of soldiers on the borders of Ukraine, this visit takes on an important character,
A Russian military operation would almost certainly be preceded by new cyberattacks against Ukraine’s power grid, its communication systems and its ministries: such is the assessment of US intelligence. In recent years, all these infrastructures have been targeted.
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” Cyberattacks could be part of a larger Russian effort to destabilize and further invade Ukraine “Wrote the White House in a press release announcing the arrival of Anne Neuberger at NATO headquarters in Brussels. The US envoy will then travel to Poland for talks with Polish and Baltic cyber defense officials. Videoconference exchanges are also planned with his French and German counterparts.
In mid-January, several Ukrainian government sites were targeted by a massive cyberattack, attributed by Kiev to Moscow.
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Ukraine is particularly vulnerable, as its electricity grid is still connected to the Russian grid. If it has planned exercises consisting in connecting to other European electricity networks, it would be illusory to think that the Ukrainian infrastructures could be reinforced in a few weeks.
Another concern: that the possible sanctionss taken against Russia lead to a wave of retaliatory cyberattacks against Europe and the United States. At the end of last week, the UK’s Cybersecurity Centre, which is part of the intelligence services, called on British companies to be ready to react to possible cyberattacks. The United Kingdom is one of the countries supplying arms and ammunition to Ukraine.