Russia was accused of cyberattacking Viasat an hour before the invasion of Ukraine. Central Europe also suffered from it

Author:
Kostia Andreikovets
Date:

The United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union have said Russia is responsible for a series of cyberattacks on Ukraineʼs Viasat communications company. The attacks began about an hour before Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

This was reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom.

It is believed that the main target of the attack was the Ukrainian military, primarily communications, but it also affected wind farms and Internet users in Central Europe.

Viasat said at the time that "tens of thousands of terminals have been damaged and shut down and cannot be repaired."

The US governmentʼs website states that Russian military cyber operators used Wiper and WhisperGate to attack. At the same time, the invasion of private and government networks with these tools began in January 2022 and continues throughout the war.

The U.S. government says U.S. experts and technology are helping Ukraine identify cyber threats and recover from cyber incidents.