Russia has failed in its efforts to "cyber-destroy" Ukraine, Le Monde writes, citing a report by cybersecurity experts from the French group Thales.
The report, published on Wednesday, reads:
"We did not witness the 'night of the great cyber war' that Russia wanted to unleash on Ukraine. On the contrary, Ukraine has proven to be particularly resilient to cyberattacks."
Ivan Fontarensky, CTO of cyber defense at Thales, also told Agence France-Presse:
"On February 23, 2022, simultaneously with the ground attack, Russia attempted cyber attacks with apparently specially created unknown viruses targeting military targets such as power plants, telecommunications infrastructure, electricity supply and even the Viasat satellite network."
Despite the attacks on the Viasat telecommunications network used by the military, "Ukraine has shown particular resilience, in particular in restoring the affected systems. We thought that Russia was capable of conducting such operations, but their attack failed. Not only did they make mistakes in their methods of operation, but since 2014 Ukraine has learned to defend itself better, including through cooperation with other allied countries," Fontarensky said.
According to the expert, several pro-Ukrainian activists have also attempted cyberattacks on Russia, but without much effect, "except in June 2022, when a pro-Ukrainian group claimed responsibility for attacks on two Russian power plants, which they blew up."
Background. As a reminder, hackers hacked and made public the personal data of a Russian army colonel who bombed Mariupol.