By Zeba Siddiqui
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (Reuters) – Russian government hackers have recently carried out several spying operations targeting Ukraine’s allied countries since Moscow’s invasion of the country in February, Microsoft said in a report on Wednesday.
“The digital aspects of the current war extend far beyond Ukraine and reflect the unique nature of cyberspace,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said in the report.
The researchers had already tracked a series of destructive digital attacks on Ukrainian entities carried out by Russian-backed groups since the start of the conflict. They have now found that 128 organizations in 42 countries have also been targeted by the same groups in attacks focused on espionage, according to the report.
Many of these recent attacks were directed at the United States, Microsoft researchers wrote, but several member countries of NATO – which provided support to Ukraine in the midst of the conflict – were also hit.
This includes organizations based in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark and Norway, as well as Finland and Sweden, which have expressed a desire to join the NATO alliance in recent months.
“The target appeared to be primarily governments, although it also included discussion centers, humanitarian groups and essential infrastructure providers,” according to the report.
The Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(By Zeba Siddiqui)
