
Russia-linked cyberattacks on Ukraine: A timeline
Cyber incidents are playing a central role in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Here’s how events are unfolding along with unanswered questions.
On Saturday night, January 15, Microsoft shook the cybersecurity world with a report that destructive wiper malware had penetrated dozens of government, non-profit, and IT organizations in Ukraine. This news capped a week of mounting apprehension of cyberattacks in Ukraine that could presage or accompany a real-world Russian military invasion of the country.
Since January 11, several possibly interconnected developments related to Russia’s cybersecurity posture paint a complex and unclear portrait of what’s happening in Ukraine. The following is a timeline of these increasingly high-stakes developments:
January 11: U.S. releases cybersecurity advisory
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the National Security Agency (NSA) released a joint cybersecurity advisory (CSA) providing an overview of Russian state-sponsored cyber operations. It covered commonly observed tactics, techniques and procedures. The advisory also provided detection actions, incident response guidance, and mitigations.
CISA also recommended that network defenders review CISA’s Russia Cyber Threat Overview and Advisories page for more information on Russian state-sponsored malicious cyber activity. The agencies seemingly released the CSA as part of an occasional series of joint cybersecurity advisories.
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