Microsoft Reveals It Has Been Working To Prevent Russian Cyberattacks Against Ukraine

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Microsoft Russia Cyberattack Prevention Blog Post Overview: 

• Who: Microsoft wrote a blog post revealing it has been working to prevent Russian cyberattacks against Ukraine. 
• Why: Microsoft says it has seen nearly all of Russia’s nation-state actors attempting to conduct cyberattacks against Ukraine’s government and critical infrastructure since the start of the Kremlin’s invasion. 
• Where: The announcement was made in a Microsoft blog post on Apr. 7. 

Microsoft has announced that it has been working to prevent Russian cyberattacks against Ukraine in particular from a Russian nation-state actor called Strontium. 

Microsoft, which made the reveal in a blog post last week, said it has been able to secure a court order allowing it to “take control” of seven internet domains used by Strontium to perform its attacks. 

“We have since redirected these domains to a sinkhole controlled by Microsoft, enabling us to mitigate Strontium’s current use of these domains and enable victim notifications,” Microsoft said. 

Microsoft revealed that Russia has been using Strontium to target various Ukraine institutions, such as media organizations, government institutions and think tanks in the European Union and the United States. 

“We believe Strontium was attempting to establish long-term access to the systems of its targets, provide tactical support for the physical invasion and exfiltrate sensitive information,” Microsoft said. “We have notified Ukraine’s government about the activity we detected and the action we’ve taken.”

Microsoft Says Its Been Fighting Against Strontium Since 2016

Microsoft said it has been working to prevent attacks from Strontium since 2016, having since developed a process that allows it to streamline court orders to help prevent attacks. 

In total, Microsoft said it has taken court action 15 times and taken control of more than 100 domains under Strontium’s control since 2016. 

Microsoft said that, since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it has seen nearly all of the Kremlin’s nation-state actors engaged in cyber warfare against their neighbor. 

“We continue to work closely with government and organizations of all kinds in Ukraine to help them defend against this onslaught,” Microsoft said. “In the coming weeks we expect to provide a more comprehensive look at the scope of the cyberwar in Ukraine.” 

President Joe Biden issued a warning last month to Americans that Russia was likely to retaliate against America with cyberattacks after sanctions were placed on the Kremlin following its invasion of neighboring Ukraine. 

Have you been the victim of a cyber attack perpetrated by a Russian nation-state actor? Let us know in the comments!

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