Security News > 2022 > April > Microsoft says Russia hit Ukraine with hundreds of cyberattacks
Microsoft has revealed the true scale of Russian-backed cyberattacks against Ukraine since the invasion, with hundreds of attempts from multiple Russian-backed hacking groups targeting infrastructure and Ukrainian citizens.
Microsoft has also observed a direct link between cyberattacks and military operations, with the timing between hacking attempts and breaches closely matching that of missile strikes and sieges coordinated by the Russian military.
Among the destructive attacks it observed against hundreds of systems in Ukraine, Microsoft says 32% directly targeted Ukrainian government organizations, and over 40% were aimed at critical infrastructure organizations.
Microsoft has also found that the WhisperGate malware was used in data-wiping attacks against Ukraine in mid-January, before the February invasion, disguised as ransomware.
The highly targeted and precisely timed nature of this year's Russian-backed cyberattacks against Ukraine is in stark contrast with the indiscriminate NotPetya worldwide malware assault that hit countries worldwide in 2017 and was also linked to the Russian GRU Sandworm hackers.
"Microsoft has observed to date suggests threat actors DEV0586 and IRIDIUM are operating with restraint in the execution of destructive attacks by limiting malware deployments to specific target networks," Microsoft DSU added.