Why is the war in Ukraine affecting my cybersecurity?

Throughout Russia’s continuing invasion of Ukraine, the country and its allies grow increasingly concerned, especially since Russia’s use of military operations to occupy territory and capture resources isn’t the only weapon in its arsenal. Warfare can be more than military operations. It also encompasses hacking and cyberattacks an opponent and their allies; this is cyber warfare.  

Cyber warfare is most effective in pursuing information, such as gathering intelligence, stealing technology, and controlling public opinion. With the rise of technology and its increasingly vital role in our lives, cyber operations have become a potentially devastating weapon, capable of crippling critical government and civilian infrastructure. 

There are multiple types of cyber warfare:  

Espionage – the use of spies to gather secrets and sensitive information 

Sabotage – the use of sensitive information to leverage insider threats 

Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks – creating a flood of fake requests on a website, thereby overloading the system and preventing legitimate users from accessing the website 

Electrical power grid – disables critical systems and infrastructure, disrupts communication, rendering services unusable, and could potentially result in bodily harm  

Propaganda attacks – exposing the target country with embarrassing truths or lies to turn its population against them 

Economic disruption – attacking economic systems such as stock markets, payment systems, and banks to derail the economy  

Surprise attacks – using the element of surprise to carry out a massive attack to weaken the opponent’s defenses 

Why should this matter to you? Because both businesses and individuals from an allied country can be targeted. President Biden recently issued a statement, emphasizing the importance of cyber security and defenses. Russia has been considered a threat from the SolarWinds cyberattacks in 2020 and the cyberattack on the Colonial Oil pipeline just last year. They have been responsible for many cyberattacks against the US and are capable of one or more of the many types of cyber warfare to gain information and power. USA’s allyship to Ukraine has the potential to result in another cyberattack, one that businesses need to remain especially vigilant against.  

To read how you can combat potential cyberattacks, click here.