The War on Ukraine: A Look at (Underemphasised) Russian Cyber Operations

February 24, 2023 will mark one year of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with no signs suggesting the end of the war is near. The threat of escalations in cyberspace by Russian actors looms large for Ukraine even as its increased preparedness has allowed it to thwart multiple attacks. For Transatlantic governments, it is equally important to analyse Russian cyber intrusions of the past year as it is to defend against future attacks. Despite the consistent pace of cyber-attacks by Russia, there has been a lack of emphasis on the role of cyber operations since the invasion.

While combined efforts towards Ukraine’s cyber readiness have borne results and prevented further escalations, narratives around the existing level of cyber operations in the war preliminarily indicate a misunderstanding of the scope and nature of how conflict can play out in cyberspace. This can have deleterious consequences for policy and strategy planning. This brief aims to highlight Russian cyber operations since its invasion, including some noteworthy trends and identified priorities for governments and policymakers to address in the immediate future. It also touches upon the transnational efforts to pushback against Russia and elaborates on Ukraine’s enhanced cyber defence with contributions from the private sector and the European Union, United States, and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

Read more in the brief below.

* Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EACEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.