Russian cyber-attacks against Nato member states have increased by 25 per cent over the past year, according to a report by Microsoft. The analysis found that nine of the ten countries most affected by Russian state-sponsored cyber-activity were Nato allies, as the Kremlin escalates its hybrid warfare tactics against the West.
The United States was the most targeted country, accounting for 20 per cent of all attacks, followed by the United Kingdom at 12 per cent and Ukraine – the only non-Nato nation in the top ten – at 11 per cent. The most targeted sector was government, representing a quarter of all attacks, with research and academia, thinktanks and non-governmental organisations also heavily affected, Microsoft said.
Amy Hogan-Burney, a vice-president for cybersecurity policy at Microsoft, said the company expected to “continue to see activity across many Nato-based areas”. Experts have warned that Russia is conducting a “hybrid war” against Nato members, using unconventional tactics such as cyber-attacks, drone incursions and sabotage that occupy a grey zone between peace and war.
Last month, the former head of MI5, Eliza Manningham-Buller, warned that the UK may already be at war with Russia due to the intensity of cyber-attacks and other hostile activity orchestrated by Moscow. She described it as “a different sort of war, but the hostility, the cyber-attacks, the physical attacks, the intelligence work is extensive”.
Other Nato nations have also experienced Russia-linked incidents. In Poland, 19 unarmed Russian drones crossed into its airspace last month, while Denmark was forced to close airports because of unidentified drones. Nato also intercepted three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets that violated Estonia's airspace last month.
Microsoft added that Russia is using its highly active cybercriminal community to carry out attacks, tapping the ecosystem for access to targets or using its malicious software as proxies. Jamie MacColl, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said the increase was “not surprising given the general uptick in Russian covert, and sometimes overt, action against Nato member states over the past 12 months”.
