While the Focus Is on Ground Combat in Ukraine a Major Anti-Russian Front Has Opened in Cyberspace – Opinion

While many of us have focused on military operations following the invasion of Ukraine illegally by Vladimir Putin, which was increasingly unpredictable and erratic, cyberspace is a different conflict.

Pravda, a Ukrainian newspaper published the personal data of around 120,000 Russian soldiers. It was obtained through hacking of several official Russian databases.

6,616 pages of names, registration numbers, and places of service of Russians personnel — *just for volume comparison*, and nothing else: that’s more pages than were ever published out of the Snowden cache. pic.twitter.com/h6y05Ll4Ub

— Thomas Rid 🌻 (@RidT) March 1, 2022

Unfortunately, the initial reports didn’t support what actually took place. The hacked data was later analyzed to show that the information is linked with specific units, and not just a list of Ukrainian soldiers. But, as Winston Churchill (or Mark Twain or someone else)  said,  “A lie will go round the world while truth is pulling its boots on.” The data and the initial spin associated with it undoubtedly had an impact in Russia as well as being a boon for Russian scammers.

Russia is also a major participant in cyberwar. Russian media websites have been attacked. TASS was hacked repeatedly and defaced using anti-war, anti-Putin slogans. Also, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry has posted the estimated Russian casualties. Recurrent hacker attacks also targeted the news sites fontanka.ru and iz.ru.

Belarus has been the target of one of the most interesting attacks. According to reports, the Belarusian rail system was targeted. They are currently working under reduced schedules and manual dispatch rules.

Belarusian Railways allegedly hacked by Belarusian Cyber Partisans to slow troop transport https://t.co/gaFkZYLXFh #belarus #cyberwar #hacking #infosec #osint #russia #ukraine

— Niels Groeneveld (@nigroeneveld) March 1, 2022

Cyberattacks have caused the closure of several Belarusian banks.

There seem to be two distinct campaigns at work. On the one hand, we have the “Anonymous” types who want the media attention. The hackers hack into the websites of well-known media companies and outlets, then deface and post about their exploits on social media. The attack on Belarus’ rail system appears to be more strategic. This attack seems to have a primary purpose: to stop Russian military moves into Ukraine. It is notable that there wasn’t a defaced website. The bank attack was not also attributed to anyone. One wonders if the unbelievable logistics FUBAR is not the result of the stereotypical slapdash Russian approach to supply and maintenance operations but an “invisible hand” attacking computer systems needed to manage fuel, ammunition, food, etc., spare parts. It seems that Russian units are abandoning military communication for clearer methods, if this is true. It could refer to the famous Russian Army discipline, or it may indicate that the system has been infected by malware, and is no longer usable.

It is difficult to know what exactly is happening, but there seems to be a significant battle in cyberspace, where Russia is either struggling or becoming overwhelmed.