Russia led cyber attack in Europe hours before Ukraine invasion

RUSSIA has been has been blamed for a massive cyber attack which caused chaos across Europe and a string of failed ransomware hacks as the Government calls for a nationwide effort to tackle online criminals.

Today Steve Barclay, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, will call for a “whole of society” response to the security challenges posed by Russia and similarly-minded countries.

He will add that one major Russian based cyber crime group has been behind repeated failed attempts in the UK to steal personal data for a ransom, with 53 victim reports in the past year.

Mr Barclay is expected to say: “It is vital that we adopt a ‘whole of society’ approach to cyber security.

“It’s a job for us all. Preserving our core values of democracy and free speech while keeping people safe online - as we are doing through our Online Safety Bill – depends on the UK having robust cyber defences.”

Yesterday, the Foreign Secretary said that Kremlin cyber-spies had wreaked havoc on civilian internet communications satellites hours before Vladimir Putin’s army invaded Ukraine.

Russian hackers targeted a Viasat communication satellite immediately before tanks rolled over Ukraine’s borders on Feb 24.

While the Russians had intended to hit the Ukrainian military’s communications, the satellite hack also knocked thousands of European users offline including wind farms in Germany.

The attack was the first digital salvo fired by Russia and triggered fears of an all-out online war. Information pointing to Russian agents was previously released by the satellite’s operator Viasat. The Foreign Office has now said that the Kremlin’s military intelligence bureau, the GRU, was behind the attack.

Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, said: “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.”

Viktor Zhora, a senior official at Ukraine’s cybersecurity agency, said in the immediate aftermath of the hack that it was “a really huge loss in communications in the very beginning of war”.

The European Union joined Ms Truss in condemning Russia for the hack, which affected member states across the east of Europe and shut down 5,800 German wind turbines operated by power company Enercon.

The attack consisted of a malicious software update sent by Russian military intelligence to customer terminals for Viasat’s KA-SAT satellite.

Tens of thousands of terminals were damaged, the Foreign Office said. It is understood they needed to be returned to Viasat to be reprogrammed for normal use.

Viasat’s satellite service is used by businesses for general internet connectivity and for monitoring internet-connected industrial systems.

Cyber security company Sentinelone said in a March analysis that 5,800 turbines in Germany all vanished offline at the same time in late February.

Viasat said it recognised “international governments” were to blame for damaging its infrastructure.