The war in Ukraine has officially started with the military operation announced by Putin this morning. A full-fledged invasion condemned by the international community. UN Secretary General António Guterres has called on Russia to back down and stop an attack with consequences.devastating» not only for Ukraine, but «tragic» for Russia and a problem for the recovery of the global economy after the crisis caused by the pandemic. «This war makes no sense“, he stressed.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has been more forceful: «I strongly condemn Russia’s reckless and unprovoked attack on Ukraine, which endangers countless civilian lives«. The secretary of the Alliance has indicated that «once again, despite our repeated warnings and our tireless efforts to exercise diplomacy, Russia has chosen the path of aggression against a sovereign and independent country«.
Clearly, Russia’s aggression is a serious violation of international law. A great threat to the security of the planet because Putin has extended the bombing to areas of Lithuania (and thinks of others as well) and this one is a full member of NATO. The consequences for the world can be dire. The disaster of the two world wars is still on the minds of many and some analysts consider the Russian aggression to be the most worrying military operation of this century.
The worst thing is the humanitarian situation, there are already dead citizens in Ukraine and the exodus of the population to other areas of Europe number in the thousands. Stock markets are falling sharply all over the planet and the price of oil and gas threatens the global economy and a recovery that was beginning to appear as we overcome the pandemic.
The war in Ukraine, also in cyberspace
In the 21st century, wars are not only fought on the ground and cyberspace is another vital area. Here Russia has elements of attack and defense that are cited among the planetary elite. Coinciding with the physical bombings, government agencies and banks in Ukraine this morning were hit with DDoS attacks that took websites offline.
Shortly thereafter, cybersecurity firms Symantec and ESET revealed a new destructive “data wipe” malware which is also being used in cyber attacks against organizations in Ukraine, Lithuania and Latvia. And it’s not the first. This malware is the second of its kind detected this year. Specifically, the ‘WhisperGate’ discovered by Microsoft and posing as a ransomware attack.
Like that one, it corrupts the files and deletes the Master Boost Record device, making it impossible to start Windows or access files. The type of tool used clearly shows that it has been prepared by Russian state-sponsored cybercriminals and its code dates back to 2017 when attacks targeted thousands of Ukrainian companies with NotPetya ransomware. A malware that was not looking for money or ransom, but to harm critical targets.
Last year, the US indicted Russian GRU hackers believed to be part of the elite Russian hacking group known as “Sandworm” and responsible for the NotPetya attacks.
As for DDoS, they are part of a third wave of attacks that have affected several banking and government institutions in Ukraine. you know what they are denial of service attacks that attack Internet infrastructure with a massive bombardment. It has knocked out the online portals of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Cabinet of Ministers, the portal of the country’s parliament and several banks.
And so that nothing is missing. Cybercriminals swarming the dark web are seeking to capitalize on ongoing political tensions by advertising databases and web accesses containing information on Ukrainian citizens and critical infrastructure entities with the “hope for big profit“according to a report released by Accenture this week.
While we wait for sanity to prevail, the consequences of the war in Ukraine are unpredictable. In the physical world and also in cyberspace.
