A huge cyber-attack against a satellite internet network at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which took thousands of modems offline, was caused by Russia, the EU has said.
The attack against Viasat’s KA-SAT network in late February took place just as Russian forces pushed into Ukraine, Reuters news agency reports.
“This cyber-attack had a significant impact causing indiscriminate communication outages and disruptions across several public authorities, businesses and users in Ukraine, as well as affecting several EU member states,” the Council of the EU said in a statement.
“This unacceptable cyber-attack is yet another example of Russia’s continued pattern of irresponsible behaviour in cyber-space, which also formed an integral part of its illegal and unjustified invasion of Ukraine,” it added.
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss also criticised Russia for the incident, saying: “This is clear and shocking evidence of a deliberate and malicious attack by Russia against Ukraine which had significant consequences on ordinary people and businesses in Ukraine and across Europe.”
Ukraine’s cyber-security authority has previously said it’s fighting a war in the digital realm as well as on-the ground, with constant cyber-attacks against its networks.
