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Guerrero-Saade, who has been at the forefront of AcidRain research, says AcidRaid is more of a multi-purpose weapon where previous malware used by Russians has been narrowly targeted.
“What worries AcidRaid greatly is that they have removed all security checks,” he says. “With previous wipers, the Russians were wary of running it only on certain devices. Now these security checks are gone and they are being brute-forced. They have an ability that they can reuse. The question is, what supply chain attack will we see next?”
Experts say the attack is typical of Moscow’s “hybrid” war strategy. It was launched in line with the occupation on the ground. Exactly this type of coordination between Russian cyber operations and military forces has been seen at least six times, according to research by Microsoft, which highlights the emerging role of cyberspace in modern warfare.
Danish Defense Minister Morten Bødskov said: “Russia’s coordinated and devastating cyber-attack before invading Ukraine demonstrates that cyberattacks are used actively and strategically in today’s wars, even though the threat and consequences of cyber-attacks are not always visible to the public.” , in a statement. “The cyber threat is constant and evolving. Cyberattacks can wreak havoc on our critical infrastructure with deadly consequences.”
In this example, the damage spreading from Ukraine is about to affect thousands of internet users and internet-connected wind farms in Central Europe. And the implications are even greater: Viasat works with the US military and its partners around the world.
“Obviously, the Russians ruined everything,” says Guerrero-Saade. “I don’t think they intended to have that much splash damage and involve the European Union. They gave the EU an excuse to react by influencing 5,800 German wind turbines and others around the EU.”
Just hours before AcidRain began its devastating work against Viasat, Russian hackers used another wiper called HermeticWiper against Ukrainian government computers. The playbook was eerily similar, but instead of satellite communications, the targets were Windows machines on networks that would be important for the Kyiv government to offer effective resistance in those early hours of the invasion.
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