Russia unexpectedly poor at cyberwar鈥擡uropean military heads

By: 3 years ago

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LILLE,听贵谤补苍肠别鈥�Several European heads of military cyber defense forces agreed on Wednesday that Russia has been far less effective than expected in employing digital combat capabilities in their offensive against Ukraine.

鈥淎mong cybersecurity experts we were pretty sure that there would be a cyber Pearl Harbor based on past experience of Russian behaviour and capabilities,鈥� said General Karol Molenda, head of Poland鈥檚 National Cyber Security Centre.

But Ukraine was prepared and 鈥渨ithstood attacks from Russia鈥�, Molenda told a meeting of the International Cybersecurity Forum (FIC) held in the northern France city of Lille.

This showed, he added, that you can prepare for cyber conflict against Russia, which he said was 鈥済ood at offensive capabilities but not so good at defence鈥�.

He cited multiple cyber attacks which had hit the country, the work mainly of independent hackers.

Lithuania鈥檚 head of cybersecurity, Colonel Romualdas Petkevicius said that Russia is 鈥渘ot ready to wage coordinated cyber and kinetic war鈥�.

There are cyber activities everywhere in Ukraine, 鈥渢housands of them,鈥� he told AFP. 鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 think they are very well planned鈥�.

General Didier Tisseyre, head of France鈥檚 cyber defence force, made a similar observation about a disconnect between computer attacks and Russia鈥檚 military offensive on the ground.

鈥淢aybe they didn鈥檛 manage to organise it the way they wanted to鈥�, and their capacities 鈥渁re not as strong as we imagine鈥�, he said.

But the analysis of the conflict is complicated by the fact that independent hacker groups have entered the battle, while companies such as Microsoft and Starlink have also come to Ukraine鈥檚 aid, he pointed out.

The current conflict in cyberspace 鈥渋s like a rugby world cup 鈥渨here all the teams are on the field without their distinctive jerseys. The public is on the field too, and you have to prevent tries from being scored鈥�.