Known for its incredible backbone of aggressive cyber warfare, Russia is turning toward more devastating fronts in its continued invasion of Ukraine. As the entire world still reels in the ongoing global energy crisis, which was only exacerbated even further following Russia's war, the country itself is pursuing such avenues in crippling the energy infrastructure powering Ukraine through cyber attacks.
Led most prominently by the nation's own defense ministry research institute, Russian cyberattacks are lending more of a focus now on major energy proponents - not just in Ukraine but on a global scale. It raises dire questions not merely on the way in which energy infrastructure can be protected, but likewise on the overall abilities they can withstand such devastating attacks, as not just one facility but multiple can be hit in a single go.
Stuart McKenzie, senior vice president of Mandiant Services in Europe, Middle East, and Africa, tells Financial Times that the cyber frontier for Russia is all but an "additional theater of warfare," wherein its efforts go above and beyond simply destabilizing the country's oil pipelines or electrical grids. As he says, hitting such energy infrastructure points is "how you can have the biggest impact - it's an ability to really show an extension of your power."
Such mind games and disruptive cyberattacks are at the heart of the Russian strategy, best expressed in its various attempts to hit Ukrainian high-voltage substations, an assault which was led by Russia's cyber-military arm called Sandworm. But, the real catch is in the malware specifically utilized in this instance. If left unchecked, it could have blanketed the entire electricity grid in the country, proving just how dangerous such efforts are when considered on a more global scale.
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Given that energy plants and oil pipelines of the sort run primarily on older technologies, like operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) systems, they are far easier to damage through cyber attacks. It'll take a lot of effort to bolster these already existing systems and monitor them through increased cyber security efforts and collate variations in the types of tactics cybercriminals utilize in their schemes.
It goes far beyond the implications inherent in energy devastation wrought by cyber warfare and the overall economic impact and the long-term toll such effects may have over the next five to ten years. Sam Ori explains in a Forbes article the drastic financial concerns such attacks have had and will continue to have over Russia's war in Ukraine:
"The Ukraine crisis similarly presents a historic opportunity to address our current vulnerabilities to the benefit of our economic and national security...Indeed, the current crisis is a stark reminder that there are myriad reasons to aggressively decarbonize and that fossil fuels come freighted with many external costs."
Beyond simply cyber security efforts in protecting the energy sector on all of its varied fronts, there's also the concept of newfound adoptions to take into consideration. Europe especially has been the most profoundly impacted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its additional efforts in cutting its reliance on the country for its fossil fuels, proof enough in the areas wherein countries must move away from.
Thus, a more green and secure energy sector is certainly of major importance for the future of global infrastructure. Relying on fossil fuels has gotten us quite far already, but a need to adapt is most imminent.
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