"Russia's use of cyberattacks appears to be strongly correlated and sometimes directly timed with its kinetic military operations," said Tom Burt, a Microsoft vice president. The Microsoft report is the most comprehensive public record yet of Russian hacking efforts related to the war in Ukraine. Suspected Russian hackers "are working to compromise organizations in regions across Ukraine," and may have been collecting intelligence on Ukrainian military partnerships many months before the full-scale invasion in February, the Microsoft report says. Possible explanations ranged from disorganization in Russian military planning to hardened Ukrainian defenses, to the fact that bombs and bullets take precedence over hacking in wartime. "But a full accounting of the cyber-operations reveals the proactive and persistent use of cyberattacks to support Russian military objectives."

Source: CNN April 27, 2022 23:23 UTC