Microsoft warns of rising Russian cyberattacks

The country is targeting states that have supported Ukraine - especially the USA and Poland.

Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, Russian intelligence agencies have increase their attempts to acquire intelligence from US and allies' government computer networks.

Hackers are not only going after government systems, but also targeting other sectors that may have crucial information related to the war, such as think tanks and humanitarian groups, as well as defence, telecommunications, and energy firms.

Since the start of the war, Microsoft has identified more than 100 organisations in 42 countries that have been impacted by the attacks.

According to the report, over 60% of the activity has targeted entities in NATO states. The US has been the main country targeted, accounting for 12% of the worldwide total.

Cybercriminals have also turned their attention to Poland, which is currently the hub for delivering the majority of military and humanitarian goods to Ukraine.

During the past two months, Microsoft has also seen an uptick in activity against networks in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Turkey.

The report says the hacking efforts breach defences about a third of the time, and a quarter of those successful intrusions led to the theft of data from networks: about a 7% success rate overall.

Microsoft reported in April that about half-a-dozen hacking groups with ties to the Russian government had attempted hundreds of cyberattacks in Ukraine since the Russian invasion, with dozens of those attacks aiming to destroy computer systems.

In its latest report, Microsoft commended Ukraine's efforts to protect data. Before the conflict, the nation's public-sector digital infrastructure operated on servers that were physically situated in the country, making them susceptible to missile strike. As soon as the Ukrainian government became aware of this risk, it started moving its crucial digital processes and data to the cloud, and they are now running in data centres across Europe.

In recent months, various governments have allegedly increased their offensive cyber actions relating to the war, as they look for information on the conflict and its worldwide repercussions.

The chief of Cyber Command, the US military's hacking division, said this month the organisation had supported Ukraine with a "full spectrum" of offensive, defensive, and information operations.

Microsoft recently made an announcement that the company would be scaling down its activities in Russia, affecting around 400 workers based in the country.

Additionally, the firm recently blocked Russian consumers from downloading Windows from its servers.