Concern over Russian aggression extends to cyber warfare

The U.S. and UK have sent teams of cyber security
experts to help Ukraine regarding an expected cyber attack in early January,
nytimes.com reported on Dec. 20. The teams are not explicitly military in
nature, though the U.S. is considering bringing in assistance from the U.S.
Cyber Command. Currently, a “widespread campaign targeting numerous Ukrainian
government agencies, including internal affairs – the national police – and
their electric utilities,” is expected. If the current attack follows previous
exploits, the attack would occur in mid-January.

James Hydzik: Ukraine is no stranger to cyber attacks, with the most famous being
the June 2017 Petya attack, which affected mainly businesses and the
mid-January 2015 power grid attack. Since then, Ukraine has suffered from
regular attacks, which have brought down government ministry websites, but
nothing that has touched the populace en masse.  As we mentioned previously, digital attacks are an option, especially when
tanks are stuck in mud. If the hope is that an attack will make the Zelensky
government look weak, however, Russia’s previous hacks will certainly come to
mind first and foremost. Any sort of competent and technical recovery would end
up being a victory of sorts for Zelensky.