The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war is... well, still ongoing. While the fighting on the frontlines continues to make headlines, an important aspect of the war that doesn't receive as much attention is cyber warfare.
The two countries have taken turns targeting each other with various types of cyberattacks, but Ukraine now believes that coordinated attacks on its civilian and critical infrastructure could amount to war crimes.
Victor Zhora, Chief Digital Transformation Officer at the State Service of Special Communication and Information Protection (SSSCIP) of Ukraine, recently conducted an interview with POLITICO and said that Russia has coordinated its cyberattacks with physical military attacks, which could be considered war crimes committed against its citizens:
"When we observe the situation in cyberspace, we notice some coordination between kinetic strikes and cyberattacks, and since the majority of kinetic attacks are organized against civilians—being a direct act of war crime—supportive actions in cyber can be considered as war crimes."
Zhora shared that top officials in Ukraine are in the process of gathering evidence to present to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
One specific example that Zhora points to occurred last July, when Russian forces attacked DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy investor:
"Their thermal power plant was shelled, and simultaneously, their corporate network was attacked. It's directed and planned activity from Russians, which they did both in conventional domain and in cyber domain."
No cyberattacks have ever been classified as war crimes before, though that is certainly not to say it couldn't happen.
In June 2021, NATO met to discuss the state of cybersecurity around the globe and affirmed that severe cyberattacks could fall under NATO's Article 5, which states that "an attack against one Ally shall be considered an attack against us all."
Essentially, a cyberattack of the right criteria could be met with a swift military response from all 30 NATO allies—a line drawn in the sand that Russia has come very close to crossing.
Another aspect of cyberwarfare that should be considered is the potential for Russian cyberattacks to effect Ukrainian allies in Europe and the West. NATO has already warned about cyberattacks that could "spill over" into NATO countries and escalate the fighting.
Reuters recently reported that a Russian cyber gang known as Cold River targeted three nuclear research labs in the United States this past summer. Adam Meyers, SVP of Intelligence at CrowdStrike, had this to say about the group:
"This is one of the most important hacking groups you've never heard of. They are involved in directly supporting Kremlin information operations."
Ukraine believes that now is the time the international community debated these cyberattacks and how to respond to them. It will be a challenging conversation to have, but allowing these attacks to go unchecked with no response plan in place is irresponsible for all parties involved.
