Microsoft President Brad Smith said that before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a wide-ranging cyberattack had begun, marking the start of a whole new form of warfare. Speaking at the company’s Microsoft Envision event in London, Brad Smith stated that the conflict began with cyber attacks against Ukraine shortly before the physical invasion took place.
The company later says it pooled its resources to not only ward off initial attacks, but also to help Ukrainian defenders respond to what Smith called the “first great hybrid war.”
Referring to the early times of land, sea and air attacks, respectively, Smith stated that the war is now taking place in the cyber environment by entering a “fourth area”. Smith explains the company’s three main responsibilities are upholding government, defending the nation, and protecting the people.
Smith stated that until a week before the war started, the Ukrainian government was working entirely on the ground. But as fears of the attack grew, Microsoft took action and within days moved 16 of 17 ministries and a number of key Ukrainian companies to the cloud.
More importantly, Smith noted that this cloud is outside of Ukraine for extra security. Microsoft’s $12 billion investment in building data centers across Europe has greatly benefited this move.
Smith said: “The best way to protect a country in times of war is to maintain its continuity by distributing its digital assets. You’re safe when people don’t know where your data is.”
Summarizing the attacks launched by seven different units in three parts of the Russian government, Smith said, “The first bullets were fired in cyberspace.” Unlike the NotPetya attack used during the previous Russian invasion, these attacks
Underlining that Microsoft detected 237 different processes and 40 devastating attacks targeting hundreds of systems before physical attacks, Smith said, “As the war continues, what we see is It was not just an increase in attacks, but sometimes a combination of attacks.” He also stated that the intervals between cyber and ground attacks decreased from days to hours and sometimes even minutes, and emphasized that a cyber attack targeting a nuclear power plant was followed by a physical attack only hours later. )
Smith, He noted that in the future, Microsoft’s role is now focused on several fronts, including disrupting Russian misinformation campaigns, protecting people on the ground, and ensuring accountability for war crimes committed during the conflict. When we think about the war in Ukraine, when we think about what it takes to support and maintain this government… I think we should also think about what it means for our place in the world… In many ways, the gift to us is attacked. We must all acknowledge that we are working together to support not only Ukraine but the world.”
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