Microsoft detected ‘destructive cyberattacks’ against Ukraine hours before Russian invasion

Microsoft President Brad Smith speaking at Seattle’s Town Hall in 2019. (GeekWire Photo / Kevin Lisota)

Microsoft says it began detecting “destructive cyberattacks directed against Ukraine’s digital infrastructure” several hours before the Russian military began launching missiles or moving tanks into the country last week.

The disclosure Monday, part of a larger blog post about Ukraine by Microsoft President Brad Smith, provides a glimpse of how cyber-warfare is being used as part of the ongoing invasion. The company says it is giving ongoing guidance to the Ukrainian government about cyberthreats as the situation unfolds.

Smith also outlined the company’s efforts to combat state-sponsored disinformation campaigns, ensuring that its platforms are not displaying or distributing any content or apps from Russia’s state-sponsored RT and Sputnik news organizations, in line with a recent European Union decision.

He wrote that there’s “a well-orchestrated battle ongoing in the information ecosystem where the ammunition is disinformation, undermining truth and sowing seeds of discord and distrust,” he wrote. 

The cyberattacks, for their part, include a new malware package, which Microsoft calls FoxBlade. It’s a trojan that can surreptitiously use a victim’s PC for distributed denial of service attacks. Microsoft says it updated its Windows Defender anti-malware service to protect against FoxBlade within three hours of the discovery.

The attacks have been “precisely targeted,” not as widespread as in the 2017 NotPetya attacks against the country, Smith wrote. However, he added, Microsoft is “especially concerned” about cyberattacks against civilian targets in Ukraine, in areas including financial services, agriculture, emergence response, humanitarian aid, and the energy sector.

“These attacks on civilian targets raise serious concerns under the Geneva Convention, and we have shared information with the Ukrainian government about each of them,” Smith wrote. “We have also advised the Ukrainian government about recent cyber efforts to steal a wide range of data, including health, insurance, and transportation-related personally identifiable information (PII), as well as other government data sets.”

Smith wrote that Microsoft is sharing “appropriate information” with NATO officials in Europe and America. The company has unique insights into cybersecurity threats due to the global scale of its technology, and its Microsoft’s Threat Intelligence Center operations.

See also  Microsoft President Brad Smith on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and ‘the world’s first hybrid war’

“One of our principal and global responsibilities as a company is to help defend governments and countries from cyberattacks,” he wrote. However, he added, “it’s important to note that we are a company and not a government or a country.”

Related Posts

What is Microsoft Sharepoint?

What Is Microsoft Sharepoint And Its Outstanding Advantages

The questions we are most frequently asked about what is Microsoft Sharepoint?, SharePoint’s benefits and capabilities are listed here. We sincerely hope you can use these! What…

EU approves Microsoft’s $19.7B Nuance deal, clearing last major hurdle for big acquisition

Microsoft Image The European Commission gave unconditional approval to Microsoft’s pending acquisition of speech technology company Nuance Communications for $19.7 billion in cash, clearing the way for…

Surface Trio? Newly discovered Microsoft patent filing shows hinged device with three displays

A diagram for three-screen device from a Microsoft patent filing. (U.S. Patent & Trademark Office) Microsoft has released two versions of its Surface Duo handheld device, each…

Paul Allen’s L.A. site sells for $65M, part of effort to scale back late Microsoft co-founder’s projects

Late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. (Vulcan Photograph) A 120-acre site bought by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen for $20 million in 1997 within the Beverly Crest…

Microsoft’s Pluton security processor debuts on AMD chips in new Lenovo ThinkPad laptops

New ThinkPad Series Z laptops from Lenovo will include Microsoft’s Pluton security processors in an AMD CPU. (Lenovo Image) Lenovo unveiled two new laptops made out of…

‘Rainbow Six’ developer plans to bring Ubisoft+ subscription service to Xbox

Ubisoft’s forthcoming Rainbow Six: Extraction pits crack military operatives against invasive alien not-zombies. (Ubisoft Image) The third-party development studio behind the Assassin’s Creed and Tom Clancy video…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *