U.S. and Allies Condemn Russian Cyber Operations, Pledge Further Support to Ukraine

The U.S. and its allies on Tuesday condemned Russia for destructive cyber attacks they say Moscow has launched against Ukraine both before and during the invasion.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that Ukraine has experienced numerous disruptive cyber operations, including website defacements, distributed denial-of-service attacks, and cyber attacks that erased data from computers belonging to the Ukrainian government and private companies.

The hack took place an hour before the invasion, causing significant communication outages and disrupting several public authorities and businesses, the EU said.. The European Council also confirmed that the attack spread beyond Ukrainian borders, affecting several EU member states.

"We and our partners are taking steps to help defend against Russia’s irresponsible actions,"  State Department's spokesperson Ned Price told TURAN's Washington correspondent during the Department's daily press briefing.

"We’ve identified new mechanisms to help Ukraine identify cyber threats and recover from cyber incidents... We’ve also enhanced our support for Ukraine’s digital connectivity, including by providing satellite phones and data terminals to Ukrainian Government officials and critical infrastructure operators" Price said.

The spokesperson didn't comment on whether, based on U.S. findings, Russia's immediate neighbors were much more vulnerable than they used to be. In the meantime, he added, "we praise Ukraine’s efforts, both in and out of government, to guard against and help their country recover from malicious cyber activity, even as their country is under physical attack."

"The way that Ukraine was able to weather and to be resilient against and to bounce back from these malicious cyber attacks, it was A testament of the ability of Ukraine’s cyber defenders," Price said.

The State Department also released a list of several efforts it has taken to combat Russia’s cyber aggression against Ukraine. These efforts include providing direct support to Ukrainian law enforcement, sharing cyber threat information about potential or ongoing malicious cyber activity, and helping intercept and disrupt nation-state efforts to spread disinformation.

As Russia continues its war crimes in Ukraine, the State Department is also looking at possibly labelling Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.

"[W]e are closely looking at what Russia is doing, what Russia has done, to the people of Ukraine to determine which policy tools are most appropriate and responsive to those actions... We have already placed enormous economic and financial pressure on Moscow," Price said in response to TURAN's questions.

Late Tuesday night, the U.S.House of Representatives voted to pass A roughly $40 billion bill to deliver aid to Ukraine as it continues to face Russia's brutal assault.

The measure will next need to be passed by the Senate before it can GO to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C..