Ukraine’s Cyber Resistance Underestimated

The past year has demonstrated that while Russia remained a very capable and persistent adversary, Ukraine’s cyber-defensive and counter-offensive capabilities have improved dramatically, rendering many attack attempts ineffective. That’s according to the Intel 471 Threat Research Team.

“A big differentiator in Ukraine’s increased resilience in 2022 was due to the significant assistance of Western governments and the private sector, who shared intelligence, knowledge and tools, which allowed Ukraine to more effectively counter Russian cyber capabilities,” it said.

Just like on the actual front line, Russian cyber capabilities were possibly somewhat overestimated, while Ukraine’s resilience was significantly underestimated.

“This was indeed unexpected by many in the international community,” the team said. “Ukraine’s close cooperation with Western allies in the preceding years in many aspects matured the country’s all-around defensive capabilities, to include on the cyber front line. Creative steps undertaken by Ukraine’s government, which included moving many government systems to foreign data centers and resorting to volunteer groups’ aid rather than the government’s own resources in developing tools and capabilities, coupled with support and technology provided by foreign governments and the private sector, led to Ukraine establishing reactively successful cyber defenses.”