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Russia has ramped up its hacking and cyber espionage against groups in 42 countries as its war continues in Ukraine, according to a Microsoft report released Wednesday.
Microsoft president Brad Smith said Russia’s number one target outside of Ukraine is the United States, but noted that Russian cyber activity has also targeted Poland, where much of the military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine is delivered.
“Russian targeting has prioritized governments, particularly NATO members,” Mr. Smith wrote on the company’s blog. However, it was stated that among the targets are think tanks, humanitarian organizations, IT companies and energy and other critical infrastructure suppliers.
According to Microsoft, about half, 49%, of Russian hacking outside of Ukraine target governments. Countries exposed to Russian attacks include Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and Turkey.
Microsoft’s Threat Intelligence Center observed 128 network intrusions outside of Ukraine, and the company said Russian actors were successful in 29% of those efforts. Microsoft discovered data stolen in a quarter of these successful compromises.
Interestingly, the major tech company said it has not detected any Russian cyberattacks in Estonia since the start of the war in Ukraine, and Microsoft noted that the country is adopting cloud computing services.
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Alongside cyber-espionage and hacking attacks, Microsoft has also observed successful Russian cyber-influence campaigns designed to shape views on the war in Ukraine. Microsoft’s AI for Good lab has created a Russian Propaganda Index to track state-controlled media and its promoters, which discovered that the spread of Russian propaganda has increased 82% in the US and 216% in Ukraine since the war began.
Microsoft’s report said countering cyber-influence operations is complicated by freedom of expression. The report ‘Defend Ukraine: Early Lessons from Cyber War’ said that freedom “affects and even limits the role of democratic governments in tackling any content-related issue on the internet.”
Microsoft says it is committed to keeping this freedom alive and is proposing other options for disrupting digital influence campaigns.
“Corruption can play an even more important role when we consider countering foreign cyber-penetration operations,” the report said. “And the best approach to corruption is becoming clearer. The best antidote to widespread deception is greater transparency. By providing better information to the public, there is an opportunity to counter foreign efforts to mislead the public.”
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