UK, EU and Aust claim Russia to be behind cyberattack
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The UK, the EU and Australia have accused Russia of being responsible for the massive cyberattack against a satellite internet network that took thousands of modems offline at the onset of the war in Ukraine.
The digital assault against Viasat’s KA-SAT network in late February took place as Russian forces invaded Ukraine, the Council of the EU said in a statement on Tuesday.
“This cyberattack had a significant impact causing indiscriminate communication outages and disruptions across several public authorities, businesses and users in Ukraine, as well as affecting several EU Member States,” the statement said.
A British Foreign Office statement quoted Foreign Secretary Liz Truss as saying the cyberattack was a “deliberate and malicious attack by Russia against Ukraine”.
While Russia’s primary target in the cyber attack was the Ukrainian military, it also disrupted wind farms and internet users in central Europe, citing Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).
The Foreign Office statement cited “new UK and US intelligence” which suggested Russia was behind the cyberattack, although it did not elaborate further on the issue.
The remote sabotage caused a “huge loss in communications in the very beginning of war,” Ukrainian cybersecurity official Victor Zhora said in March.
The Australian Government on Monday issued a statement criticising the Russian cyber attacks in February, stating that the attacks were aimed at disrupting Ukrainian command and control systems during the invasion.
“These unacceptable activities are further examples of Moscow’s indiscriminate approach to cyber operations and blatant disregard for the effects of such operations on the public, including through the commercial sector,” the statement said.
“Australia is committed to imposing costs on state-based or state-sponsored malicious actors who seek to undermine an open, free, safe and secure cyberspace,” the statement by Foreign Minister Marise Payne, Defence Minister Peter Dutton and Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said.
But despite the accusations, Russia routinely denies that it carries out offensive cyber operations. The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment.
with AAP
Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.
