The Cyber Dimension of the Russia–Ukraine War

As militaries advance and integrate digital technologies, cyber warfare becomes an increasingly important domain of interaction. While capabilities of individual actors can be observed, it was largely unknown how significant cyber attacks would affect a conventional war. The 2022 Russia-Ukraine war represents one scenario that can be analyzed to gain an understanding of cyber capabilities and outcomes during a kinetic conflict. Russian forces mainly employed DDos attacks against Ukrainian government websites and malware. While these attacks affected Ukrainian government networks, there was an insignificant level of overall disruption. Other uses of the cyber space included a misinformation campaign to influence the local population. These attacks demonstrated restrain by Russian forces and may be due to the unintended effects of past attacks such as NotPetya in order to reduce the potential for an escalation of conflict.