The US and the UK have ‘quietly’ sent cyber warfare experts to Ukraine to help sabotage any cyber warfare threats like that in the 2015 Ukraine power grid hack when Russian hackers remotely took over a power company’s control center. It was the first publicly international acknowledged attack using digital weaponry that attacked the Ukrainian power grid, causing power outages across the country. In the hopes of protecting the Ukraine, as the US and allies speculate the next move of Russia, both the UK and the US have sent their cyber warfare teams over fears that Russia may potentially launch a cyber-attack.[1]
Russia, which has concentrated heavy troops and artillery on the eastern frontier with Ukraine might be using distraction techniques to launch the cyberattacks and destroy Ukraine’s power grids, the banking system, and other important components that might hit its economy and impact the governance as well as other critical infrastructure. While the US officials have refused to disclose the type of cyber teams that have been sent to Ukraine, media sources are reporting that the US intelligence believes Russia may be trying to make the Ukrainian to look ‘inept’ and weaken his government in order to make it strategically more convenient to launch an offensive.
Russia’s cyber campaign against Ukraine seems to never end, US officials said, but they added that in the recent weeks the actions turned more rigorous as tensions escalated the past month over troop build-up. “This is a widespread campaign targeting many Ukrainian government agencies, including home affairs, the national police, and their electric utilities,” said a leading Russian cyber activity investigator and chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator. This group migrated to the US from Russia and believes such cyber-attacks were in fact a “preparation for the battlefield” for Russian officials.
Although US national security advisor, in speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations, said that it was uncertain at this time exactly when and how Russia might invade Ukraine. “The current assessment of the US government is that it [Russia] has not made a decision," he said, stressing that Russian cyber activity has received intense attention from the White House, the CIA, the National Security Agency and the United States Cyber Command, including “Cyber forces”, which have been deployed by the current administration to identify vulnerabilities and protect Ukraine.
Red Sky Alliance is a Cyber Threat Analysis and Intelligence Service organization and offers pro-active solutions to protect your networks. Our analysts have previously tracked bot past Russian attacks on the Ukrainian Electric Grid. For questions, comments or assistance, please contact the office directly at 1-844-492-7225, or feedback@wapacklabs.com
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[1] https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/rest-of-the-world-news/us-and-uk-help-prepare-ukraine-for-potential-russian-cyber-attack-as-tensions-soar.html
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