cyber war in perspective:
russian aggression against ukraine

Cyber War
in Perspective:
Russian Aggression
against Ukraine

Edited by

Kenneth Geers

This publication may be cited as:
Kenneth Geers (Ed.), Cyber War in Perspective: Russian Aggression against Ukraine,
NATO CCD COE Publications, Tallinn 2015.
© 2015 by NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence.
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NATO Cooperative Cyber DefenceCentre of Excellence
The Tallinn-based NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (NATO CCD COE) is a NATO-accredited knowledge hub,think-tank and training facility. The international military organisation focuses on interdisciplinary applied research and development,
as well as consultations, trainings and exercises in the field of cybersecurity. The Centre’s mission is to enhance capability, cooperationand information-sharing between NATO, Allies and partners in cyberdefence.
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the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom
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Contents
Foreword����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 8
Key Events������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 10
1. Introduction: Cyber War in Perspective| Kenneth Geers, NATO CCD COE / Atlantic Council /Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv������������������������������������������������ 13
Strategic Framework
2. Russia and Its Neighbours: Old Attitudes, New Capabilities| Keir Giles, Conflict Studies Research Centre������������������������������������������������� 19
3. Cyber War and Strategic Culture:
The Russian Integration of Cyber Power into Grand Strategy| James J. Wirtz, Naval Postgraduate School����������������������������������������������������� 29
4. ‘Compelling Opponents to Our Will’:The Role of Cyber Warfare in Ukraine| James A. Lewis, Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)������ 39
5. The Cyber War that Wasn’t| Martin Libicki, RAND�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 49
Tactical Viewpoints
6. Revolution Hacking| Nikolay Koval, CyS Centrum LLC������������������������������������������������������������������� 55
7. Cyber Operations at Maidan: A First-Hand Account| Glib Pakharenko, ISACA Kyiv������������������������������������������������������������������������� 59
8. Beyond ‘Cyber War’: Russia’s Use of Strategic Cyber Espionage andInformation Operations in Ukraine| Jen Weedon, FireEye������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 67
9. Cyber Proxies and the Crisis in Ukraine| Tim Maurer, New America������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 79

6

Information Warfare
10. Russian Information Warfare: Lessons from Ukraine| Margarita Levin Jaitner, Swedish Defense University����������������������������������� 87
11. Missing in Action: Rhetoric on Cyber Warfare| Liisa Past, NATO CCD COE���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 95
12. Strategic Communications and Social Media
in the Russia Ukraine Conflict| Elina Lange-Ionatamishvili & Sanda Svetoka,
NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence������������������������������103
Policy and Law
13. Ukraine: A Cyber Safe Haven?
| Nadiya Kostyuk, University of Michigan������������������������������������������������������113
14. A Legal Framework for Cyber Operations in Ukraine| Jan Stinissen, NATO CCD COE��������������������������������������������������������������������123
15. The Ukraine Crisis as a Test for Proposed Cyber Norms| Henry Rõigas, NATO CCD COE�������������������������������������������������������������������135
16. Northern European Cyber Security in Light of the Ukraine War| Jarno Limnéll, Aalto University���������������������������������������������������������������������145
The Future
17. What’s Next for Putin in Ukraine: Cyber Escalation?
| Jason Healey & Michelle Cantos, Columbia University�����������������������������153
18. Strategic Defence in Cyberspace: Beyond Tools and Tactics| Richard Bejtlich, The Brookings Institution�������������������������������������������������159
Authors................................................................................................................ 171

7

Foreword
Sven Sakkov
Director, NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence

In mid-January 2014, the Ukrainian Rada passed tough anti-protest regulations that
seemed to be designed to nip the emerging anti-government mood in the bud. Overthe next months, in the harsh Ukrainian winter, opposition protests escalated andturned bloody. The ensuing turmoil included a runaway President, Russian occupation of Crimea and an armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine.
The world held its breath and many expected to see a full-fledged ‘cyber war’.
However, although an increase in typical cyber skirmishes was reported throughout
the crisis, prominent cyber operations with destructive effects have not yet occurred.
The possible reasons for this seemingly low-level employment of cyber attacks in
Ukraine characterise the particular role of cyber operations in modern conflicts.
The case of Ukraine proves that the use of cyber operations has to be understoodin the wider strategic context. In Ukraine we saw – in line with national doctrine –that Russian information warfare both included and relied upon cyber elements.
Reported cyber incidents such as defacements, information leaks or DDoS attacks
against media or governmental organisations were predominantly in support of theintense Russian information operation against Ukraine and the West.
Furthermore, due to the historical interconnectedness of networks and sophisticated spyware tools applied by APT groups, it is widely presumed that Russia is actively
leveraging the intelligence provided by its effective cyber espionage campaigns forstrategic gain. As cyberspace functions as the main medium for disseminating andgathering information, destructive cyber operations hindering information flows in
Ukraine would have been unreasonable from the Russian point of view.
Another strategic consideration affecting Russian use of cyber attacks is the relative effectiveness of traditional kinetic operations. If we look at the Russian actions
in Crimea and the Donbass, there was no practical need to engage in destructive
8

offensive cyber operations to achieve the military objectives. For instance, one of thefirst targets during the occupation of Crimea was an Internet Exchange Point, which
was taken over by Russian special forces in order to assure information superiority
by disrupting cable connections with the mainland. In short, the case indicates thatkinetic actions might in some circumstances be more effective and less costly thansophisticated cyber operations. This factor is even more relevant in Ukraine, where
the infrastructure is often outdated and not highly IT-dependent.
Even though highly visible and destructive attacks have not been reported, information-oriented cyber operations in Ukraine have nevertheless functioned as an
essential strategic element of Russian whole spectrum warfare.
In brief, the book reflects several mutually reinforcing reasons why we did notwitness large-scale or massive cyber attacks with destructive effects:• Espionage and information campaigns conducted through cyberspace
trumped other considerations for the Russian side;• It is reasonable to achieve results with less resources and effort involved,
i.e. if a cable can be cut physically, there is no need to use sophisticatedcyber attacks;• Both sides in the conflict have shown a considerable ability to control
the escalation of the conflict. The cyber domain did not witness largescale warfighting, but neither did the domain of air after the tragedy ofMH17;• Ukraine did not offer very lucrative targets for destructive cyberattacks.
To put these points into perspective: modern war is a messy affair, not a clean
and glittery Hollywood movie. The emergence of cyber as a separate domain of
warfighting does not necessarily offer magic solutions and miraculous short-cuts toachieve strategic goals. As of November 2015, the case has shown that destructive
cyber operations are not (yet) a silver bullet in the arsenal of states which still operate below certain thresholds due to legal and political considerations and uncertainties over escalation. Nevertheless, we have to keep in mind that the conflict in
Ukraine is not yet over – the level and nature of cyber attacks can change rapidly, as
the political-military environment in Ukraine remains unstable and unpredictable.
Against the backdrop of the often unclear debate on so-called ‘hybrid warfare’and its cyber elements, this publication offers a ‘reality check’ for policy-makers,
scholars and the media to understand the ‘haze’ of cyber war. This is done by applying an interdisciplinary approach as our book involves 17 subject-matter experts
analysing the strategic, policy, legal and technical aspects of the case.
The NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence would like to thankall of the book’s authors, and especially the editor, Centre Ambassador Kenneth
Geers, for their contributions to the project.

9

Key Events
Timeframe
2013–2014

Geopolitical Events

November 2013 – Ukrainian President Yanukovych’s cabinet rejects the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, igFebruary 2014
niting anti-government protests in Kyiv. Demonstrations gather pace in January and Februaryof 2014 and culminate when clashes between protesters and government turn deadly. As aresult, Yanukovich flees to Russia and the Parliament names Turchynov as interim President.
27 February –16 March

On February 27, pro-Russian gunmen in combat uniforms – dubbed ‘little green men’ – occupy Crimea and seize strategic sites. On March 16, 97% of voters reportedly back Crimea’s
unrecognised referendum to join Russia. The EU and US agree on a first round of sanctions
against Russia; several rounds follow as the crisis progresses.

April – May

Armed conflict begins in eastern Ukraine. The first casualties between pro-Russian separatists
and Ukrainian government forces are reported on April 17. Unrecognised referendums areheld. Separatists declare independence in Donetsk and Luhansk on May 11.

25 MayPetro Poroshenko is elected President of Ukraine.

17 JuneMalaysia Airlines flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur is shot down over eastern
Ukraine, leaving nearly 300 dead. Shortly after the crash, the Security Service (SBU) of Ukraine
releases an intercepted phone call purportedly between separatists in eastern Ukraine, discussing the fact that they shot down the plane.

September

The Minsk Protocol is signed by representatives of Ukraine, the Russian Federation, the Donetsk People’s Republic, and the Lugansk People’s Republic. A ceasefire agreement fails to stop
fighting in Donbass as fierce fighting for Donetsk’s airport erupts.

26 October

Parliamentary elections are held: Poroshenko’s Bloc wins and pro-western parties dominate thenew political landscape.

2015
January –February

The Minsk Protocol ceasefire fails as heavy fighting continues. After weeks of fighting, on 22
January, Ukrainian forces withdraw from the main terminal of the strategically important Donetsk airport.
On February 11, new talks start in Minsk to achieve a new peace deal. Parties agree to a pullout of heavy weaponry, but sporadic clashes continue. After heavy fighting in Debaltseve,
Ukrainian forces retreat on 18 February.

March

The UN reports that an estimated 6,000 people have been killed in eastern Ukraine since 2014.

August –September

The most recent ceasefire, agreed by the contact group in late August, appears to be holding, asfighting is at its lowest point since the beginning of the conflict.

10

Prominent Cyber Incidents1
Sporadic cyber skirmishes, including distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks and website defacements, accompany events throughout the crisis. Prominent examples include Russia Today’s (RT) alteredheadlines with the word ‘Nazi’ added and DDoS attacks against the NATO and NATO CCD COE websites, which are briefly taken offline during the Euromaidan protests.
Private sector reports announce that advanced persistent threat (APT) cyber espionage tools havebeen discovered in Ukraine and in NATO countries. Malware analysis suggests that the campaigns are
based in Russia. New and more menacing forms of malware include Turla/Uroburos/Snake, RedOctober,
MiniDuke, and NetTraveler.
Anonymous users or hacktivist groups such as CyberBerkut continuously leak stolen, sensitive information. For example, on February 4 2014, a phone call between the US Assistant Secretary of State andthe US Ambassador to Ukraine, which includes derisive comments regarding the EU, is uploaded toYouTube.
At the Euromaidan street demonstrations, there are physical and cyber attacks against opposition servers,
smartphones, websites, and Internet accounts; the most serious incidents coincide with the lethal shooting of protestors.
During the occupation of Crimea, Russian special forces seize an Internet Exchange Point (IXP) and sever Internet cables. According to Ukrainian intelligence, an ‘IP-telephonic’ attack originating from Crimea
targets the mobile devices of Ukrainian parliament members. Hackers also leak stolen data, including abugged phone call between the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the EU, which fuels conspiracy
theories and appears to support the Russian narrative regarding sniper shootings at Euromaidan.
Ukrainian officials report a sophisticated cyber attack against the Ukrainian Central Election Commission on May 21-25 2014. DDoS attacks impede information exchange. A computer virus is launched toundermine the credibility of the elections and presents false election results to the official election website.
Specialists contain the virus, but the Russian TV station Channel One nonetheless airs the fake results.
Media reports describe a ‘troll factory’ in St. Petersburg, Russia, where hundreds of people are allegedly
creating pro-Russian government content for both domestic and international social media. This
analysis highlights the active use of social media as a prominent threat vector for information operations.
A private sector report claims that a Russian cyber espionage campaign has targeted the MH17 investigation being conducted by Dutch, Malaysian, Australian, Belgian, and Ukrainian authorities.
In eastern Ukraine, signals intelligence (SIGINT) operations make use of Internet data (e.g. location
data from mobile phones and Wi-Fi networks) to locate and target Ukrainian military forces. Hacktivists
on both sides continue to leak sensitive or compromising data to support their cause. In one case, hackers
access public CCTV cameras in eastern Ukraine. The region has been isolated from the rest of Ukraine
via Internet censorship and regular forensics checks on citizens’ computers and mobile devices.
1

This event overview is not exhaustive and includes prominent incidents;
it is based on open source reports and information provided by this book’s authors.

11Chapter 1

Introduction:
Cyber War in Perspective
Kenneth Geers
NATO CCD COE1 / Atlantic Council /Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

Cyber war is a hot topic. Armed forces, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies have made computer security – from defence to offence – a top priority forinvestment and recruitment. In fact, current efforts to take the higher ground incyberspace are so intense that many governments will overreach, with unfortunate
ramifications for democracy and human rights around the world.
The current Russo-Ukrainian conflict appears to have all the necessary ingredients for cyber war. Moscow and Kyiv, and indeed the entire NATO Alliance, areplaying for the highest geopolitical stakes. Russia has already annexed Crimea, andthere is an ongoing military standoff in eastern Ukraine. Both countries possess ahigh level of expertise in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM),
which has naturally led to an aptitude for, and experience with, computer hacking.
Despite these factors, there are still
many sceptics over cyber war, and more
Can cyber attacks offer solquestions than answers. Althoughdiers more than a temporary,
malicious code has served criminals
tactical edge on the battlefield?
and spies very well, can cyber attacks
offer soldiers more than a temporary,tactical edge on the battlefield? Can it have a strategic effect? What norms should beestablished in international relations to govern nation-state hacking in peacetime
and in war?
1

Dr Kenneth Geers was a Scientist at NATO CCD COE in 2007–2011 and now holds the position of Centre Ambassador.

13

This book serves as a benchmark in the early history of Internet-era warfare. For
world leaders and system administrators alike, the ‘cyber dimension’ of the Ukraine
crisis offers many lessons and sheds light on whether cyber war is still closer to science fiction than reality. The research is divided into five sections: Strategic Framework, Tactical Viewpoints, Information Warfare, Policy and Law, and The Future.
Each chapter has been written by a leading expert in national security, network
security, or both. It has been a pleasure and an honour to work with all of them.
Many thanks to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Cooperative Cyber DefenceCentre of Excellence (NATO CCD COE) for sponsoring this research.
Cyber War in Perspective: Russian Aggression against Ukraine opens with a chapter by Russia scholar Keir Giles of the Conflict Studies Research Centre in Oxford,
UK. Keir offers deep insight into the background to this crisis, and explains why
it may not be resolved any time soon. Russia and the West are said to have two
distinct views of the world. Moscow is unlikely to tolerate true independence andsovereignty for its former Soviet satellite states, and remains vehemently opposed
to Western support for them. It has many strategies and tactics – traditional andcyber – that it can employ against Ukraine and its other neighbours, while the Westis both hesitant and divided.
In Chapter 3, James J. Wirtz, Dean of the Naval Postgraduate School in California, describes the global context surrounding these events. Today, nation-states areintegrating cyber tactics into their political and military strategies. Professor Wirtz
posits that when it comes to the use of cyber, ‘national styles’ might be emerging asstates attempt to use cyber capabilities to achieve strategic objectives. He suggeststhat it is wrong to treat cyber attacks as a silver bullet, and that it is better to consider
how a sort of combined arms approach will prevail. On a positive note, the needfor legal and bureaucratic integration of policies and programmes should produce
national idiosyncrasies on the cyber battlefield that can help with the vexing challenge of attribution.
James Andrew Lewis of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies(CSIS) analyses the geopolitical effects of cyber attacks in Chapter 4. He discusses
two metrics: strategic effects that diminish an opponent’s will or capacity to fight(e.g. influencing public opinion) and tactical effects that degrade military power(e.g. confusing troops, or denying service to weapons). Success is premised uponobservable, real-world effects. In Ukraine, Russian cyber operations had no strategic effect and only a limited, short-term political effect.
In Chapter 5, RAND’s Martin Libicki takes one of this book’s strongest stances.
He asks why, despite the existence of a hot military conflict and ample hacker talent, there is no cyber war in Ukraine. There have been hacktivist outbursts, web
defacements, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, and cyber espionage,
but everything we have seen so far falls well short of how national security thinkers– and Hollywood – have portrayed cyber war. Libicki explores several possible reasons. Does Ukraine not possess cyber-enabled critical infrastructures? Are Russia

14and Ukraine wary of taking (or escalating) their conflict into the cyber domain? Or
are our notions of cyber war simply overrated?
Nikolay Koval, head of Ukraine’s Computer Emergency Response Team(CERT-UA) during the revolution, describes in Chapter 6 how cyber attacks rose inparallel with ongoing political events, in both number and severity. In 2012, hackers‘defaced’ Ukrainian government websites with politically motivated digital graffiti.
In 2013, network defenders discovered new and more menacing forms of malware,such as RedOctober, MiniDuke, and NetTraveler. In 2014, hacktivist groups such as
CyberBerkut published stolen Ukrainian Government documents. Koval analyses
in detail the most technically advanced attack investigated by CERT-UA: the May
2014 compromise of Ukraine’s Central Election Commission (CEC). He closes byappealing to the Ukrainian Government to allocate greater funds to hire and retain
qualified personnel.
In Chapter 7, ISACA Kyiv researcher Glib Pakharenko has written a first-handaccount of cyber attacks during the revolution in Ukraine. At the EuroMaidan street
demonstrations, there were physical and logical attacks against opposition servers,
smartphones, websites, and Internet accounts; the most serious incidents coincidedwith the lethal shooting of protestors. In Crimea, attacks ranged from severing network cables to commandeering satellites to wholesale changes in Wikipedia. In eastern Ukraine, cyber espionage such as the use of location data from mobile phones
and Wi-Fi networks has aided in targeting Ukrainian army units; the region has also
been isolated from the rest of Ukraine by Internet censorship and regular forensics
checks on citizens’ computers and mobile devices. Pakharenko ends this chapter by
providing the Ukrainian Government with a significant ‘to do’ list of best practices
in network security.
FireEye’s Jen Weedon, in Chapter 8, discusses Russia’s strategic use of computer
network exploitation (i.e. cyber espionage). Today, via the Internet, intelligenceagencies can gather information on an industrial scale, which can be used for any
purpose, including tactical support to military operations. From a targeting perspective, Weedon discusses strategies for creating a decisive information advantage,‘prepping’ a battlefield through denial and deception, and how hackers might evencause real-world physical destruction; and details the technical aspects of suspected
Russian cyber operations, including malware samples, hacker tactics, and compromised infrastructure.
In Chapter 9, Tim Maurer of the New America Foundation explores the rolethat non-state, ‘proxy’ cyber actors have played in the Ukraine crisis. In both Russia
and Ukraine, there is ample private sector computer hacking expertise which eachgovernment would theoretically have an incentive to exploit for efficacy and plausible deniability. However, throughout this crisis, there has counterintuitively beenvery limited proxy use. There have been a few dubious ‘hacktivist’ attacks, but expert
volunteers and cyber criminals do not appear to have been politicised or mobilised to any significant degree in support of geopolitical cyber campaigns. Criminal

15

behaviour remains largely profit-driven. In particular, the Ukrainian Government
has not shown a capacity to harness volunteer cyber expertise, as Russia is thought
to have done during its previous crises with Estonia and Georgia.
Swedish Defence University researcher Margarita Levin Jaitner highlights current Russian Information Warfare (IW) theMoscow has an inherent ory in Chapter 10. She contends that Moscow
has an inherent belief in the power of inforbelief in the power ofmation control to advance its political andinformation control.
military goals. In Russian doctrine, cybersecurity is subordinate to information security, and cyberspace is only one part of the ‘information space’. National security
planners are concerned with both ‘technical’ and ‘cognitive’ attacks, and recognisethat achieving information superiority involves everything from propaganda tohacking to kinetic military operations. Margarita Jaitner argues that the annexationof Crimea was a textbook case in information superiority.
In Chapter 11, Liisa Past, a NATO CCD COE expert on strategic communications, analyses leadership discourse. Liisa Past reveals that Russian President
Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko have employed similarrhetorical strategies, including the development of an ‘us vs. them’ dichotomy inwhich the in-group is portrayed as constructive and solution-oriented, while theout-group is illegitimate and dangerous. In their current conflict, neither Russia nor
Ukraine denies that cyberspace is a domain of warfare, but neither has stressed its
importance. Russian political discourse has mostly overlooked cyber issues (whichis in line with Russian military doctrine), while Ukraine has framed them within thelarger concept of ‘hybrid warfare’. The most notable difference in political rhetoric is
Kyiv’s clear orientation to the West and NATO, while Moscow is keenly focused on
Russian national interests.
Elina Lange-Ionatamishvili and Sanda Svetoka of the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence in Latvia, in Chapter 12, discuss the role of social
media in this conflict. In the Internet era, the battle for hearts and minds has neverbeen more important. Social media is a trust-based network that provides fertile soil
for intelligence collection, propaganda dissemination, and psychological operations(PSYOPS) to influence public opinion – or to lead adversaries into harm’s way. ‘Soft’cyber attacks can be as severe as any attack on critical infrastructure. In Ukraine,
they have generated fear, uncertainty, and doubt about the economic, cultural, andnational security of Ukraine, while promoting positive messages about Russia’s rolein Crimea and eastern Ukraine. The authors provide recommendations for defence
against such attacks, including how to identify them, challenge them, and how todevelop a resilient political narrative to withstand false propaganda.
In Chapter 13, University of Michigan doctoral student Nadiya Kostyuk reviews
Ukraine’s cyber security policy – past, present, and future. She analyses numerous
historical factors that make Ukraine a cyber safe haven: a strong science, technol-

16ogy, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, underwhelming economic
performance since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, and social norms which
dictate that stealing from the West is not a bad thing. The icing on the cake is that
there are currently few cyber security regulations in Ukraine. All of these factors
shed light on the vexing challenge of containing cyber crime in the region. Looking toward the future, Nadiya Kostyuk argues that Ukraine’s political, military, andeconomic crises will inhibit the stabilisation of Ukrainian cyberspace for some time.
Lt Col Jan Stinissen of the NATO CCD COE, in Chapter 14, offers a legal framework for cyber operations in Ukraine. He explains that international law applies
to cyberspace, and the law of armed conflict applies to all relevant cyber operations. Jan discusses the legal definitions of ‘war’ and ‘cyberwar’, as well as the concepts of ‘armed conflict’, ‘armed attack’, and ‘use of force’. Typically, cyber attacks do
not come in isolation, but rather as one element of a larger military operation; thewider context will determine the legal framework for its cyber component. There
are many qualifying factors including state vs. non-state actor, and armed conflictvs. law enforcement. In the Ukraine crisis, operations in Crimea (which has alreadybeen annexed by Russia) may be viewed differently from those in eastern Ukraine.
Stinissen asserts that, globally, most known cyber attacks have simply not been serious enough to be governed by the law of armed conflict, but that this is likely tochange in the future.
In Chapter 15, NATO CCD COE researcher Henry Rõigas discusses the impactof known cyber attacks in Ukraine on proposed political cyber ‘norms’, the rules ofstate behaviour in international relations. On the positive side, the absence of attacks
against critical infrastructure could be a boon to future international security andstability, especially if it is a result of intentional restraint on the part of Moscow andKyiv. This case challenges the prevailing perception that a loose normative framework currently allows states to employ cyber attacks as a tool for coercion. On thenegative side, the examples of computer network operations we have seen appear to
violate the information security norms promoted by Russia and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), as they seem to constitute a war on information itself,that is a dedicated effort to alter public opinion through deceptive propaganda.
Finnish Professor Jarno Limnéll, in Chapter 16, discusses the ramificationsof the Ukraine war, and its cyber component, for Russia’s neighbours. Moscow’s
aggressive behaviour in Ukraine has forced many countries to re-evaluate theirpolitical and military relationships, especially with NATO. For historical reasons,Finland and Estonia are well positioned to analyse Russia’s use of hybrid warfare,including information operations. Today, these countries are actively pursuing ways
to bolster their national defences against Russia’s military strategies and tactics in
Ukraine. The NATO Alliance should take concrete measures to reassure its member
states, such as the creation of a common cyber defence framework.
In Chapter 17, Jason Healey and Michelle Cantos of Columbia University
imagine four potential cyber conflict scenarios in this crisis. First, even if the hot

17

war cools off, Russia can still raise the temperature in cyberspace, and cause serious
network disruptions in Ukraine. Second, Russia could selectively target the West,adding a new vector to its already increased
volume of threats, military exercises, subHostile nation-statemarine deployments, and nuclear warnings.
cyber operations are a
Third, Vladimir Putin could mirror the ‘frolong-term, dynamic,
zen conflict’ dynamic in cyberspace by threatmultidimensional threat. ening prolonged disruptions of the global
Internet. And fourth, if the Ukraine conflict
spins out of control, Russia, in desperation, might even have the power to take down
the Internet entirely.
To close our book, in Chapter 18, Brookings Institution Nonresident Senior
Fellow Richard Bejtlich offers essential advice not only for Ukraine, but for any
nation or organisation wishing to improve its cyber security posture. Bejtlich draws
from the deep well of classic military doctrine, arguing that hostile nation-statecyber operations are not a single event but a long-term, dynamic, multidimensional
threat. The only hope that Ukraine or any other nation has for building an effective defence against professional network attacks is to incorporate strategic thinking
into its defensive architecture, personnel, and operations.

Chapter 2

Russia and Its Neighbours:
Old Attitudes,
New Capabilities
Keir Giles
Conflict Studies Research Centre

1

The View from Moscow

The crisis around Ukraine is part of a wider confrontation between Russia and the West,which has persisted at varying degrees of intensity since the fall of the Soviet Union
despite periods when the West as a whole refused to recognise that any conflict of strategic interest with Russia existed. After a period where this confrontation lay relatively
dormant, the conflict in Ukraine results from the culmination of two important trends
in the Russian view of itself and the world: first, a greater and more urgent perceptionof threat, whether real or imagined, to Russia’s own security; and second, a recognition
that Russia itself has regained sufficient strength, military and otherwise, to assert itself.
The notion that Russia is faced with an existential threat – even when that threat
is imperceptible from outside Russia – has multiple and complex origins. Some ofthese are permanent and persistent; for example, the idea of vulnerability of Russia’sborders, which leads to the conviction that in order to protect its borders Russia must
exert control far beyond them. In the last century this was one of the drivers for Soviet
ultimatums to the Baltic states and Finland which eventually led to their invasion in
1939. This continuing perception feeds into the current portrayal by Russia of NATOenlargement, including to those same Baltic states, as a threat. Regardless of NATO’s
intent, it presents a menace simply by ‘approaching Russia’s borders’.1
1

As expressed in a wide range of Russian security policy documents, including the December 2014 ‘Military Doctrine of theRussian Federation’ and its predecessors.

19

Other, more recent developments have heightened the sense of urgency for
Russian security planners. The fear that the West is considering bringing about
regime change in Russia does not stand up to objective scrutiny, but appears
deep-rooted among a broad sector of the Russian security elite. It
Recent developments have
has been accentuated in the pastheightened the sense of urgency decade by, as Moscow sees it, furfor Russian security planners.
ther unrestrained and irresponsible
interventions by the West with theintention of regime change, leaving chaos and disorder in their wake. Westernaction in Libya and support for anti-government rebels in Syria provide primeexamples.
Thus the prospect of destabilisation closer to home in Ukraine would havebeen of even more acute and direct concern in Moscow. Even without theaccompanying disorder, the threat of the ‘loss’ of Ukraine to the West posed
an immediate military problem: it appears to have been considered plausible in
Moscow that this presented an immediate danger of losing the Black Sea Fleet’sbase in Sevastopol, together with the often-overlooked supporting infrastructure scattered across the Crimean peninsula, to NATO. According to Secretaryof the Russian Security Council Nikolay Patrushev, the consequences could beeven more far-reaching: ‘Americans are trying to involve the Russian Federation
in interstate military conflict, to facilitate the change of power by way of using
the events in Ukraine, and ultimately to carve up our country.’2 Whether thisview is sincerely held by the Russian leadership or not, it is the one that is consistently presented to the Russian public, and to its Armed Forces, as explaining
the roots of the current conflict.
The fact that Russia was able to use large numbers of Special Operations Forces(SOF) swiftly and effectively to seize control of Crimea, and subsequently to wage
an ongoing low-level campaign in eastern Ukraine involving long-term mobilisation of its conventional forces, is a pointer to the other key element of the new Russian approach to confrontation; the recognition that Russia is now in a position to
exercise a much more assertive foreign policy than in the recent past.
One element of this is the unprecedented and expensive overhaul and rearmament of Russia’s Armed Forces which began after the armed conflict with
Georgia in 2008 and continues today. The fact that the Russian troops at workin Ukraine are entirely unrecognisable from the forces which entered Georgia
just seven years earlier caused surprise and consternation among those Western
defence communities that had not been paying attention. But the Ukraine campaign overall is far more than a military operation. Successful coordination of
military movements and action with other measures in the political, economicand especially information domains, are the result of strenuous efforts by the2Interview with Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev, Rossiyskaya gazeta, 11 February 2015.

20

Putin administration over preceding years to harness other levers of state power
to act in a coordinated manner.3
The results of this coordination has left the unprepared West scrambling for a
response, and struggling even to define the phenomenon, as witness the tortuous
attempts by NATO and Western governments to decide what precisely constitutes‘hybrid warfare’. But the notion of hybridity as applied to the current concept
meets little understanding in Moscow. Instead, Russia can be said simply to be
attempting to implement grand strategy in the classical sense. Russia’s attempt
at this whole of government approach to managing conflict is embodied in the
National Defence Control Centre in central Moscow, where a wide range of different government ministries and agencies including those responsible for energy,
the economy, ecology and more are brought together under the leadership of theGeneral Staff.4
Intensive militarisation, sometimes referred to directly as mobilisation, is also
now pervading Russian society, stoked by unending leadership rhetoric of war, confrontation and threat, and blanket military coverage on TV. According to Estonian
Ambassador to the Russian Federation Jüri Luik, the Russian narrative of war is‘instrumentalising the population andputting it on a mental war footing’, not
The notion of hybridity meets
only by tapping into the traditional
little understanding in Moscow.
Russian narrative of victimhood overcenturies, but also by engendering ‘aheroic feeling that now is the time of risk’.5 Furthermore, analysis of Russian security
thinking shows not only this asymmetry of threat perception, but also a complete
divergence with the West in terms of notions of how and when the military should
be used to counter those threats.
As so often, there is no single explanation for a given course of action by Russia,
and direct intervention in Crimea and Ukraine has also been parsed as a responseto the threat posed to Russian business interests by closer integration with theEuropean Union (EU). The EU model of open markets and rules-based dealings
runs directly counter to the Russian way of doing business in the near abroad,reinforcing the growing Russian perception of the EU as a problem rather than anopportunity; but few analysts would have predicted that it would be the prospectof an EU Association Agreement for Ukraine, rather than any involvement with
NATO, which would eventually lead to military intervention by Russia.
The ambivalent attitude to Ukraine as a sovereign nation with a right to choose
its own foreign policy direction has its roots in an entirely different view of the end
345Andrew Monaghan. ‘Defibrillating the Vertikal’, Chatham House, October 2014, http://www.chathamhouse.org/publication/
defibrillating-vertikal-putin-and-russian-grand-strategy.
‘Начальник российского Генштаба рассказал журналистам о задачах и роли Национального центра по управлению
обороной РФ’, Russian Ministry of Defence website, 1 November 2014, http://function.mil.ru/news_page/country/more.htm?id=11998309@egNews.
Speaking at the Lennart Meri Conference, Tallinn, 24 April 2015.

21

of the Soviet Union. That view holds that the former Soviet republics, including
Ukraine and the Baltic States, in effect belong to Russia. According to President
Putin, in 1991 ‘Russia voluntarily – I emphasise – voluntarily and consciously madeabsolutely historic concessions in giving up its own territory’.6 This persistent view
is not limited to President Putin. According to veteran scholar of Russia Paul Goble:‘The Russian elite is sincerely convinced that the preservation of influenceon the former Soviet republics surrounding it is the status quo and a natural right given by history,’ even though ‘for the entire rest of the worldsuch an approach is incomprehensible and unnatural’.
What this means is that Moscow acts ‘as if the Soviet Union had not fallen apart,
as if it had only been reformatted, but relations between sovereign and vassal haveremained as before’.7 It is plain that at least in some sectors of society, these aspirations by Russia to regain imperial dominion over its surroundings enjoy broad
support. The now-celebrated Prosecutor General of Crimea, Natalya Poklonskaya,
in an interview at the time of annexation declared her ambition to ‘start again in agreat state, a great power, an empire, like Russia’.8
This approach to Russia’s inheritance of domination over its neighbourhood
appears consistent over time. In 1953,
an assessment of recent history that had
Informed analysis pointed
to Soviet domination over Eastern
to Ukraine as the next target led
Europe concluded that in the Russian
for Russian action.
view:‘Stalin was no more than reasserting Russian authority over territories which
had long recognised Tsarist rule, and which had been torn away from Russia
at the time of her revolutionary weakness after the First World War’.9
The effect of these long-standing assumptions is a mind-set that leads to casualreferences by Russian generals to ‘nashi byvshiye strany’ (‘our former countries’),statements that even Finland and Poland were ‘parts of Russia’, and that all major
powers have a non-threatening sanitary zone (‘sanitarnaya zona’) around them.10
Russia’s attempts to maintain, or reassert, this buffer zone are a major contributor tothe current stand-off.
Since 1991, Moscow has employed a wide range of coercive tools in attempts –
6
7
8
9
10

Ksenija Kirillova. ‘Путин фактически назвал Украину территорией России’, Novyy Region 2, 28 April 2015, http://nr2.com.
ua/blogs/Ksenija_Kirillova/Putin-fakticheski-nazval-Ukrainu-territoriey-Rossii-95566.html.
Paul A. Goble. ‘Putin Gives the World His Geography Lesson: ‘All the Former USSR is Russia’’, The Interpreter, 28 April 2015,
http://www.interpretermag.com/putin­gives­the­world­his­geography­lesson­all­the­former­ussr­is­russia/.
Russian television interview available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX4JCQViRKg (at 2’40”).
William Hardy McNeill. ‘America, Britain and Russia: Their Co-operation and Conflict 1941-1946’, (Oxford University Press
1953).
Private conversations with author in late 2014.

22

often unsuccessful – to maintain influence and leverage over its Western neighbours.11 From the mid-2000s, Russia benefited from a sudden influx of revenue
thanks to higher oil prices and began to review its perception of its own strengths
accordingly. From the earliest stages, this was reflected in huge budget increases for
the Armed Forces,12 and an intensified pattern of testing levers of influence against
Western neighbours.13 High-profile incidents during this stage included gas cut-offs
for Ukraine in 2006, the crude cyber offensive against Estonia in May 2007, andultimately the use of military force against Georgia in 2008. In each case, the results
validated this approach for Russia: the Georgian conflict in particular demonstrated
the validity of use of armed force as a foreign policy tool bringing swift and effective
results, with only limited and temporary economic and reputational costs to bear.
It was in this context that a range of informed analysis pointed to Ukraine as the next
target for assertive Russian action. A UK parliamentary report in 2009 noted that:‘Many of our witnesses stressed that Russia poses a military threat toother former Soviet states, particularly in light of its actions in Georgia...
Some witnesses argued that Russia posed a military threat to Ukraine...
one scenario was that Putin could send in military forces to secure theRussian military base at Sevastopol’.14

2

Is This Cyber Warfare?

As noted above, the levers of power which Russia is bringing to bear in Ukraine are
wide-ranging. This study looks in detail at the specific cyber conflict aspect of the
Ukraine crisis, but even this concept is impressively broad thanks to the holistic andinclusive Russian approach to what constitutes information warfare, of which cyberis an integral part.
Opinions are divided as to whether what is taking place in and around Ukraine
can or should be called cyber war. As Jan Stinissen argues in Chapter 14, current
cyber operations do not meet a strict legal definition of a state of war. But at thesame time, according to one analysis, operations in Ukraine undoubtedly constitutecyber warfare. The conflict:‘meets the generally accepted standard for the following reasons: thecyber warfare component is overt, meaning the perpetrators make little
effort to hide either their identities or their allegiances. The two countries
11
12
13
14

For a recent overview of the unfriendly means Russia adopts to influence its neighbours, see ‘Russia’s Toolkit’ in ‘The Russian
Challenge’, Chatham House, June 2015, http://www.chathamhouse.org/publication/russian-challenge-authoritarian-nationalism.
Keir Giles. ‘Military Service in Russia: No New Model Army’, Conflict Studies Research Centre, May 2007.
Jakob Hedenskog and Robert L. Larsson. ‘Russian Leverage on the CIS and the Baltic States’, FOI, June 2007, available at www.
foi.se/ReportFiles/foir_2280.pdf.
‘Russia: a new confrontation?’, House of Commons Defence Committee, Tenth Report of Session 2008-09, 10 July 2009.

23

are in open, hostile and declared conflict with each other. Both sides havestated military and political objectives’.15
As if to emphasise the point, intensive cyber attacks reportedly cease during theoccasional observance of ceasefires.16
Other elements of the cyber conflict also confound definition. Operations todate represent an evolution in Russian tactics compared to previous campaigns.
Both cyber and traditional elements of conflict are present, but they are both lessovert and more difficult to understand and defend against.
In part, this is due to Ukraine’s very different cyber terrain. Comparisons to
Russia’s rudimentary cyber efforts at the time of the Georgian conflict in 2008 areof limited value. Unlike Georgia, Ukraine’s more interconnected nature makes it
impossible to restrict access to the internet overall, except in the very special case of
the Crimean peninsula. But in addition, there is no reason why Russia should try,
especially given the integrated nature of Ukrainian and Russian information space.
Since Russia already enjoyed domination of Ukrainian cyberspace, including telecommunications companies, infrastructure, and overlapping networks, there waslittle incentive to disrupt it. In short, Russia had no need to attack that which it
already owned.17 To give one simplistic but indicative example, little offensive cybereffort is needed for Russia to access sensitive Ukrainian e-mail traffic when so many
Ukrainians, including government officials, use Russian mail services and therefore
provide automatic access to the Russian security and intelligence services.18
A distinctive aspect of information operations in Ukraine itself, and one with
important implications for how cyber war may be waged in future, is the way Russian activity in the cyber domain facilitates broader information warfare aims. This
manifests itself not only in straightforward spearphishing of Ukrainian officials19
for exploitation, but also in specific uses of malware in the conflict.20 A particular example is the redirection of malware originally intended for cybercrime tomanipulating viewer figures to promote pro-Russian video clips.21 But potentiallyeven more significant for the nature of future cyber operations is the new interface
15
16
17
18
19
20
21

Tony Martin-Vegue. ‘Are we witnessing a cyber war between Russia and Ukraine? Don’t blink – you might miss it’, CSO,
24 April 2015, http://www.csoonline.com/article/2913743/cyber-attacks-espionage/are-we-witnessing-a-cyber-war-betweenrussia-and-ukraine-dont-blink-you-might-miss-it.html.
Aarti Shahani. ‘Report: To Aid Combat, Russia Wages Cyberwar Against Ukraine’, NPR, 28 April 2015, http://www.npr.org/
blogs/alltechconsidered/2015/04/28/402678116/report-to-aid-combat-russia-wages-cyberwar-against-ukraine.
Patrick Tucker. ‘Why Ukraine Has Already Lost The Cyberwar, Too’, Defense One, 28 April 2014, http://www.defenseone.com/
technology/2014/04/why-ukraine-has-already-lost-cyberwar-too/83350/print/.
Anna Poludenko-Young. ‘Ukrainian Officials, Russian Security Services Thank You for Your Cooperation!’, GlobalVoices, 23
May 2015, http://globalvoicesonline.org/2015/05/23/ukrainian-officials-russian-security-services-thank-you-for-your-cooperation/.
Undated PowerPoint presentation by SBU (Security Service of Ukraine), entitled ‘В умовах військової агресії з бокуРосійської Федерації, війна ведеться не лише на землі, в повітрі та в дипломатичних колах, вперше в історії війнзастосовані нові форми ведення агресії – гібридна війна з використанням кіберпростору України’.
Kenneth Geers. ‘Strategic Analysis: As Russia-Ukraine Conflict Continues, Malware Activity Rises’, FireEye, 28 May 2014,
https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2014/05/strategic-analysis-as-russia-ukraine-conflict-continues-malware-activity-rises.html.
Rami Kogan. ‘Bedep trojan malware spread by the Angler exploit kit gets political’, Trustwave, 29 April 2015, https://www.
trustwave.com/Resources/SpiderLabs-Blog/Bedep-trojan-malware-spread-by-the-Angler-exploit-kit-gets-political/.

24

between cyber and kinetic operations. When Russia wished to isolate Crimea fromnews from the outside world, no sophisticated cyber exploits were required. Instead,
SOF detachments simply took over the Simferopol IXP and selectively disrupted
cable connections to the mainland.22 In
short, complex and expensive informaRussian activity in the cybertion weapons are entirely unnecessary indomain facilitates broader
situations where the adversary can gain
information warfare aims.
physical control of infrastructure.
The circumstances of Crimea wereunique, and not only because of the peninsula’s distinctive internet geography; but
Russian planners will have noted this striking success and will be looking for where
it can be applied elsewhere. There are two important implications for planning for
future crises with Russia. First, both civil and military contingency planning should
include scenarios where friendly access to the internet is degraded or absent; andsecond, civilian internet infrastructure needs at least as much defence and protection as other strategic assets.
In any case, the course of the conflict so far has seen no visible full-scale cyber
hostilities of the kind envisaged by theorists, a theme examined in more detail by
Martin Libicki in Chapter 5. The tactics, techniques and procedures which havebeen used at various stages of the conflict are the subject of two separate detailed
examinations by Nikolay Koval and Glib Pakharenko in Chapters 6 and 7.

3

Reactions and Responses

Information campaigning, facilitated by cyber activities, contributed powerfully to
Russia’s ability to prosecute operations against Ukraine in the early stages of the conflict with little coordinated opposition from the West. The fact that for almost a year
the EU was unable to refer publicly to the presence of Russian troops in Ukraine23
denotes a broader inability to challenge the Russian version of events without whicha meaningful response is difficult or impossible. Early media coverage of the conflict made it ‘apparent … that some interlocutors had swallowed whole some of thecruder falsifications of Russian propaganda’.24
As the realisation of the nature of the Russian information campaign began tofilter through Western media and policy-making circles, this gave way to a dangerous optimism about the effectiveness of Russian measures, and a widespreadassumption that Russian disinformation was failing because of its lack of plausibil22
23
24‘Кримські регіональні підрозділи ПАТ «Укртелеком» офіційно повідомляють про блокування невідомими
декількох вузлів зв’язку на півострові’, Ukrtelekom, 28 February 2014, http://www.ukrtelecom.ua/presscenter/news/official?id=120327.
Andrew Rettman,. ‘EU breaks taboo on ‘Russian forces in Ukraine’‘, EU Observer, 16 February 2015, https://euobserver.com/
foreign/127667.
John Besemeres. ‘Russian disinformation and Western misconceptions’, Inside Story, 23 September 2014, http://insidestory.org.
au/russian-disinformation-and-western-misconceptions.

25

ity. Supposedly, Russian lies were ineffective because they were so obvious that they
did not confuse senior and intelligent individuals in the West. But this was to underestimate the effects of layered messaging, subtlety screened and concealed by more
obvious fabrications, continued saturation, and in particular the pernicious effectof the ‘filter bubble’ on online reading habits – the way personalised search results
driven by advertising models can effectively isolate internet users from alternative
information and viewpoints.25
Russian official sources continue to disseminate lies which are easily detected
and discredited in the West, as with the striking example of the ‘discovery’ of supposed US MANPADS in Donetsk in late July 2015.26 But the implausibility is irrelevant for Russian objectives: the story has been planted and will continue to be disseminated via the internet, and will not be
Implausibility is irrelevant contradicted in mainstream sources within
Russia. Instead of convincing Western
for Russian objectives.
readers that the disinformation is true, Russian success is defined in two other ways:
isolating the domestic audience from non-approved information so that Russianstate actions are permissible; and influencing foreign decision making by supplying polluted information, exploiting the fact that Western elected representatives
receive and are sensitive to the same information flows as their voters. When Russian disinformation delivered in this manner is part of the framework for decisions,this constitutes success for Moscow, because a key element of the long-standing
Soviet and Russian approach of reflexive control is in place.
Crucially, it must be remembered that Russian disinformation campaigns aimed
at the West are conducted not only in NATO languages, but also in Arabic andRussian targeting minorities across Europe. This itself has major implications for
managing future confrontations between Russia and other front-line states, whichmust involve finding a means to respond to Russian information operations when
the initiative necessarily lies with Russia. As put pithily by journalist and authorPeter Pomerantsev, ‘they will always win the narrative war, because they can makestuff up’.27
For the time being, much of the Western response appears focused on finding a label for the newly-demonstrated Russian way of warfare. A range of early
contenders, such as ‘non-linear war’, ‘ambiguous war’ and others have largely
been abandoned in favour of ‘hybrid warfare’, a concept originally designed fordescribing insurgency rather than warfighting by an aspiring regional power, but
now applied to a totally new situation. Nevertheless many of the components now
being used to define hybridity are nothing new in Russian practice. One argument
25
26
27

‘How to Burst the ‘Filter Bubble’ that Protects Us from Opposing Views’, MIT Technology Review, 29 November 2013, http://
www.technologyreview.com/view/522111/how-to-burst-the-filter-bubble-that-protects-us-from-opposing-views/.
Brian Ashcraft. ‘Pro-Tip: Don’t Copy Battlefield 3 Stingers’, 23 July 2015, Kotaku.com, http://kotaku.com/pro-tip-dont-copybattlefield-3-stingers-1719695507.
Speaking at the Lennart Meri Conference, Tallinn. 24 April 2015.

26

holds that a previous round of expansionism by Russia in 1939-40 shared sufficientcharacteristics with current operations around Ukraine, including intimidation,
spurious legitimation, and information campaigns backed with the prospect offull-scale invasion, to also be called hybrid warfare.28 Russia’s clinging to the attitudes and approaches of a former age holds other dangers too: Russian military,
and in particular nuclear, messaging is baffling to its Western audience because
the post-nationalist West has moved on from the Cold War mind-set in which it
is rooted. The result is a dangerous situation where the messages from Russia arereceived, but not understood.

4

OutlookAt the time of writing the situation around Ukraine remains fluid and unpredictable.
While Russia shows no signs of pushing for greater territorial control of Ukraine,moves toward conciliation by the West give rise to fears of appeasement and thedanger of a repeat of the disastrous resolution to the Georgia conflict seven years
before.29 But one undeniable achievement by Russia is the transformation of the
security environment in Central and Eastern Europe. Faced with a challenge that is
no longer deniable, Europe has overcome its ‘strategic inertia’.30 NATO in particular
has been revitalised: the NATO agenda has shifted radically from contemplation ofa future role after withdrawal from Afghanistan, now that the Alliance has a clear
motivation to return to its core purpose. Poland and the Baltic states, long cast as
irresponsible trouble-makers for warning of the implications of a resurgent Russia,
are now fully vindicated and benefiting from the overall NATO and unilateral US
military response to the crisis. Each is at present supporting these front-line stateswith very small increments of conventional military forces, while considering how
to respond to the broader threat of a more assertive Russia.31
The Ukraine conflict has the potential to bring about a transformative effectspecifically within cyber doctrine. Unlike Russia, the siloed Western approach to
cyber has typically focused on technical responses to technical threats, largely disregarding the interface with information warfare in the broad sense. This approach isentirely apt for persistent or background threats, but probably insufficient for whena national security crisis emerges, since at that point there will be no such thing asa ‘pure cyber’ confrontation. In other words, the West may have been well prepared
28
29
30
31

Vitalii Usenko and Dmytro Usenko. ‘Russian hybrid warfare: what are effects-based network operations and how to counteract
them’, Euromaidan Press, 17 January 2015, http://euromaidanpress.com/2015/01/17/russian-hybrid-warfare-what-are-effectbased-network-operations-and-how-to-counteract-them/.
Karoun Demirjian. ‘Visits by top U.S officials give Russia something to crow about’, The Washington Post, 18 May 2015, http://
www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/visits-by-top-us-offi...about/2015/05/18/3c562a94-fd6b-11e4-8c77-bf274685e1df_
story.html.
Andrew A. Michta. ‘Europe’s Moment of Blinding Strategic Clarity’, The American Interest, 24 October 2014, http://www.
the-american-interest.com/2014/10/24/europes-moment-of-blinding-strategic-clarity/.
Daniel Schearf. ‘Russia Concerns Driving Neighbors to NATO’, Voice of America, 5 August 2015, http://www.voanews.com/
content/russia-concerns-driving-neighbors-to-nato/2903033.html.

27

for cyber war, but events in Ukraine show that it also needs to be prepared for information war when cyber operations are used as a facilitator or attack vector.
More broadly, Russia has clearly demonstrated an improved capability to coordinate its levers of state power in order to achieve strategic objectives in contrast
to the West’s apparent deficit of grand strategy. In his chapter ‘Strategic Defence in
Cyberspace: Beyond Tools and Tactics’, Richard Bejtlich calls for strategic thoughtin cyber policy, but this approach needs to be mirrored across all domains in orderto successfully counter the broad-based Russian approach to modern warfare.
The crisis around Ukraine has brought Europe closer to recognition that its values and interests are incompatible with those of Russia, and that if the West wishes
to support Russia’s neighbours in asserting their sovereignty and choosing their own
destiny, confrontation with Russia is the
32
2014–15 is not an aberration inevitable result. This also implies recognition that 2014–15 is not an aberrain relations between Russia
tion in relations between Russia and theand the West.
West; rather, it is the previous 25 yearsof relative quiescence that were theexception to the rule. European nations have now been prompted by events to once
more take an interest in their own defence. But while concentrating on counteringand forestalling Russia’s next unacceptable act of force, they must also be prepared
for a sustained period of difficult and expensive tension.33 In Russia’s neighbourhood, the new normal is a return to old ways.

32
33

A theme explored in greater detail in ‘The Russian Challenge’, op. cit.
Keir Giles. ‘Staring down a grizzly Russia’, The World Today, Volume 70, Number 2, April–May 2014.

Chapter 3

Cyber War and Strategic
Culture: The Russian
Integration of Cyber Power
into Grand Strategy
James J. Wirtz
Naval Postgraduate School

Discussion of the cyber domain in general, and specific considerations of cyberattacks, cyber war and cyber power, often seem oddly detached from a broader strategic and geopolitical context.1 Several reasons can be suggested for why the cyberdimension of conflict seems to be considered in isolation from the physical andpolitical goals that states and non-state actors attempt to achieve through their activities in the virtual world of cyberspace. Offensive and defensive cyber capabilities
are highly classified by all parties; it is impossible to say with certainty what capabilities are wielded, making it difficult to assess ‘cyber orders of battle’ and ‘cyberbalances of power’. Newspaper reports, anecdotes, and rumours of capabilities offer
clues, but it is difficult to link rumours to grand strategic objectives. Cyber warfare
is an exquisitely technical subject dominated by engineers, mathematicians, andcomputer scientists – individuals who can be forgiven for focusing on the latest
patch needed in some software program, and for not thinking about the connection
between technical exploitation and grand political strategy. In a sense, issues related
to cyber warfare are often treated, not just as something technically new on the military landscape, but as something that is unprecedented in military affairs.
If one turns a strategist’s eye toward the cyber domain, key questions immediately emerge. How will states integrate their cyber capabilities into an overall strat1

The opinions here are not those of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Government or the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

29

egy to achieve military and political goals? In other words, no matter how brilliant
the algorithm, no matter how devious the penetration, how can cyber power be
integrated into a ‘combined arms’ or even a ‘whole of government’ approach leading
to battlefield success or to a grand strategy that creates a political fait accomPolitical and strategic culturepli? Unless one embraces the dubious
produce national styles andproposition that cyber really constitutes
preferences in cyberspace.
the ultimate silver bullet in politicaland military conflict, it is unlikely to be
employed independently as a war-winning weapon. Moreover, given the need for
integration, issues of political and strategic culture, to say nothing of bureaucratic
preferences and peacetime legal restraints, can be expected to produce national
styles and preferences when it comes to conflict in cyberspace.2
Although attribution of known cyber attacks remains a hotly contested andmuch denied issue (given the very limited evidence available), there is some indication that strategic culture and organisational preferences shape the way theUnited States, China and Russia use their cyber power. According to press reports,
the United States was behind the Stuxnet malware attack on centrifuges at Iran’s
Natanz enrichment facility.3 Many analysts suggested at the time that the Stuxnet
attack was noteworthy as the first example of the use of a cyber weapon to cause
physical damage, but it also reflected the long-standing American tradition of
long-range precision bombardment and the preference for targeting key nodes inan opponent’s infrastructure to produce maximum damage with minimal effort.4
By contrast, the recent Office of Personnel Management hack, which press reporting attributes to the People’s Republic of China, seems to reflect a Chinese preoccupation with guarding its own citizens from nefarious outside influences, while
going to great lengths to gather information that is locked behind others’ defensive barriers.5
Russian cyber activities, especially those associated with the recent conflictin Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea, probably offer the best example of theemployment of cyber attacks to shape the overall political course of a dispute.
According to David J. Smith:
2

3

4
5

According to Colin Gray, ‘The political context of strategy is exceedingly broad. It includes the domestic political and bureaucratic processes by which strategy is made and amended…all strategies are contrived and executed by people and institutions
that must be considered encultured by the societies that bred them’. Colin Gray. The Strategy Bridge: Theory for Practice (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010). pp. 39-40.
Ellen Nakashima and Joby Warrick. ‘Stuxnet was work of U.S. and Israeli experts, officials say,’ Washington Post, June 2,
2012. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/stuxnet-was-work-of-us-and-israeli-experts-officialssay/2012/06/01/gJQAlnEy6U_story.html; David E. Sanger. ‘Obama Ordered Sped Up Wave of Cyberattacks Against Iran,’ The
New York Times, June 1, 2012, p. A1. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/world/middleeast/obama-ordered-wave-of-cyberattacks-against-iran.html.
Lawrence Freedman. The Evolution of Nuclear Strategy, (3rd edition, New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2003), pp. 11-12; Michael
E. Brown, Flying Blind: The Politics of the U.S. Strategic Bomber Program (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1992), pp. 29-67.
Sean Lyngaas. ‘Exclusive: The OPM breach details you haven’t seen,’ Federal Computer Week August 21, 2015. http://fcw.com/
articles/2015/08/21/opm-breach-timeline.aspx; Jon R. Lindsay. ‘The Impact of China on Cybersecurity: Fact and Friction,’International Security, Vol. 39, No. 3 (Winter 2014/2015), pp, 7-47.

30

Russia holds a broad concept of information warfare, which includes
intelligence, counterintelligence, deceit, disinformation, electronic warfare, debilitation of communications, degradation of navigation support,
psychological pressure, degradation of information systems and propaganda. Computers are among the many tools of Russian information
warfare, which is carried out 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in war
and peace. Seen this way, distributed denial of services attacks (DDoS),
advanced exploitation techniques and Russia Today television are all
related tools of information warfare.6
Russia, more than any other nascent actor on the cyber stage, seems to havedevised a way to integrate cyber warfare into a grand strategy capable of achieving
political objectives.
The remainder of this essay explains
Russia seems to have devised
what it is about Russian strategic culture
a way to integrate cyber warthat enables it to wield cyber power in afare into grand strategy.
strategically effective manner. It begins
with a brief discussion of Russian strategic culture, especially how it manifested in past debates the impact of technology on
warfare. It then describes how Russia has employed its cyber power to defeat US andNATO deterrence strategies, effectively delivering a strategic defeat to the alliance atthe outset of its ‘hybrid’ war against Ukraine. The essay concludes by offering someobservations about the strategic nature of cyber warfare.

1

Russian Strategic Culture and Technology

Often, states or individuals who initially invent or master some new technology failto understand, not only its strategic implications, but also how best to employ it ina tactical or operational setting. Historically, Russia, including its Soviet manifestation, has not been at the forefront of scientific or technical innovation. As one recent
history explained, Soviet Cold War espionage was largely dedicated to stealing scientific, technical, and military information from the West in a desperate and ultimately failed effort to keep pace with more sophisticated and innovative opponents.7
Nevertheless, while the Russians may lack in technological prowess and innovative
drive, they tend to excel in their ability to foresee the broad impact of technology on
the battlespace. Several sources can be suggested as the basis of this talent. As Robert Bathhurst explained decades ago, the Russians tend to be ‘dreamers’, allowing
67David J. Smith. ‘How Russia Harnesses Cyberwarfare,’ Defense Dossier, Issue 4, August 2012, pp. 7-8.
According to Michael Warner, ‘Soviet spies were crucial to keeping the USSR alive and competitive for two reasons: they stole
enough industrial secrets to substitute for innovation in some sectors, and they kept Moscow apprised of where the West was
reading Soviet secrets,’ Michael Warner. The Rise and Fall of Intelligence: An International Security History (Washington, D.C.:
Georgetown University Press, 2014), p. 161.

31

their imaginations to run wild and envision the implications of technology.8 In the
1920s, for instance, Soviet writers were thinking about supersonic dogfights on thefringes of space – something that has not occurred nearly a century later. During theCold War, visions of a fully functioning Star Wars missile defence system shook the
Kremlin to its foundations, despite theAmerica focuses on technol- fact that even proponents of Reagan-era
missile defence recognised that many ofogy, Russia tends to leap to
the components of the system were at thethe strategic implications ofouter fringes of technical feasibility. In
weapons systems.
other words, while America focuses on
issues of technology and systems integration, Russia tends to leap immediately to considerations of the strategic implicationsof emerging weapons systems.
A second influence that shapes Russian views of emerging technology is the fact
that, in their hearts, they are good Clausewitzians. In other words, they understandthe paramount nature of politics in war. War is a political act. Its purpose is to alter
the political judgments of opponents to better suit our own interests. Thus, to havea strategic effect, cyber power must be used in a way that will shape the politicaloutcome of war. Russians are thus quick to think through the links between technology, military operations, strategy, and ultimately political outcomes, despite theirlack of technological dexterity. Soviet estimates of the military balance, for example,
reflected a broad assessment of the so-called ‘correlation of forces’, which incorporated political and economic trends, not just force ratios based on ‘bean counts’ of
military units. Soviet alarm over NATO’s 1983 Able Archer exercise, for instance,
was greatly influenced by the political rhetoric emanating from the Reagan WhiteHouse, not by some fundamental shift in the military balance in Europe. The Russian officer corps, especially in Soviet days, was also encouraged to think throughthe strategic implications of new technologies. Today, the Russian Army provides
senior officers with multiple venues to debate not only doctrine, but theory. By contrast, US officers, who tend to focus on operational matters, generally lack similar
venues to assess the strategic and political implications of new technology.9 In fact,many analysts point to a 2013 article signed by the Chief of the Russian General
Staff, The Value of Science in Anticipating as laying out the Russian way of cyber
warfare.10
A fine illustration of these phenomena is the emergence of the concept of ‘Military-Technical Revolution,’ more commonly referred to by Western analysts as the8
910

Robert B. Bathurst. Intelligence and the Mirror (London: Sage, 1993).
For a recent discussion of how operational considerations, for instance, take centre stage in what is purportedly Naval strategy
see Peter D. Haynes. Toward a New Maritime Strategy: American Naval Thinking in the Post-Cold War Era (Annapolis: Naval
Institute Press, 2015).
Valery Gerasimov. ‘The Value of Science in Anticipating [in Russian], Military-Industrial Courier, February 27, 2013, quoted
in Matthew Rojansky and Michael Kofman. ‘A Closer look at Russia’s ‘Hybrid War’,’ Wilson Centre Kennan Cable , No 7, April
2015, p. 3.

32‘Revolution in Military Affairs.’11 By the mid-1970s, NATO defence planners recognised that they confronted a serious challenge along the Central Front. If war brokeout in Europe, NATO would do well against first-echelon Warsaw Pact formations,but the Alliance could only slowly bring reinforcements across the Atlantic. Soviet
third-echelon forces – units made up mostly of inactive reservists in peacetime –would probably defeat NATO because they would reach the battle before reinforcements streaming across the Atlantic. The United States and its allies had to prevent thethird-echelon of the Red Army from reaching the Forward Edge of the Battle Area
(FEBA). The solution to the third-echelon threat was found in several new technologies that would allow NATO to conduct precision strikes against Warsaw Pact staging areas, depots, transportation hubs, and armoured formations hundreds of miles
behind the FEBA. By the mid-1980s, US programmes known as Assault Breaker andSmart Weapons Program, and NATO initiatives called Emerging Technologies andFollow on Forces Attack, were integrated into a new US Army Air-Land Battle doctrine, creating a nascent reconnaissance-strike complex. US planners adopted a rather
nonstrategic and apolitical view of these new technologies – they simply saw them asa way to stop Soviet third-echelon forces from reaching the Central Front.
By contrast, the Soviets now anticipated a ‘Military-Technical Revolution’, predicting that the emerging reconnaissance-strike complex would transform conventional combat, producing truly strategic and political effects. Soviet strategists
believed that long-range precision strikes could destroy forces and critical supply,
communication, and command nodes deep within the enemy’s rear, creating conditions for a catastrophic theatre-wide collapse. Put somewhat differently, the system of systems possessed by the Americans and their NATO allies would rob the
Warsaw Pact of its ability to mass and manoeuvre forces, or even to conduct combined arms operations. Soviet officers estimated that the nature of war was about
to change: conventional, not nuclear, munitions might soon become the weapon of
choice against massed armoured and infantry formations. They saw the potential
impact that this emerging system of systems could have on strategy, war, and international politics; there was a real possibility that the Warsaw Pact could be rendered
militarily and politically ineffective by these emerging weapons and ways of war.
Ironically, Soviet predictions of a Military-Technical Revolution set off alarm
bells in the West, as analysts scrambled to detect the new secret Soviet weapon thatwould produce these revolutionary developments in war. Americans were slow
to realise that the Soviets were in fact writing about American weapons, and thenascent precision-strike complex, which was in fact possessed exclusively by theUnited States and the NATO alliance. As a result, many of the key concepts related
to the application of information-age technologies in warfare were produced by
Soviets thinking about the weapons systems being deployed by their opponents,
and not by the more technically competent Americans.
11

Dima Adamsky. The Culture of Military Innovation: The Impact of Cultural Factors on the Revolution in Military Affairs in Russia, the US and Israel (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2010).

33

2

Russian Cyber Strategy

Today, how is this Clausewitzian-inspired Russian strategic imagination being
applied to the use of cyber power? The answer can be found by first exploring thestrategic challenge they apparently believe they face: the NATO alliance. NATO isbased on the concept of collective defence that enhances its strategy of deterrence.
Through formal agreements and long-standing and extensive collaboration, NATOsends a strong signal that member states will stand together in the face of threats
to collectively deter aggression against its members. The objective of this deterrent
policy is to preserve the peace. This is a key observation. The goal of NATO’s deterrent strategy is to reduce or even eliminate the possibility of war by ensuring that
aggressors understand ex ante that an attack against one of its members is an attack
against the entire Alliance. Especially today, NATO primarily exists to prevent war,
not to develop enhanced strategies or capabilities to prosecute war or to wield forcesto achieve ancillary objectives. In a sense, NATO exists to preserve the peace andto make sure that changes to the status quo in Europe occur through political processes that lead to the spread of democracy, the rule of law, and adherence to international norms. The raison d’être of NATO is to preserve the peace; the purpose
behind its strategy is to deter war.
To achieve its objective – rapid change of the European status quo to better
fit their Russia-centric, not democratically-cantered, interests and preferences –Russia opted to pick a course of action not to defeat NATO, but to defeat NATO’s
strategy. By presenting the Western alliance with a fait accompli through actions
that produce minimal death and destruction, Russia attempted to shift the onus ofescalation onto NATO, thereby inflicting a strategic defeat on the Alliance
Russia opted to pick a course
the outset of hostilities or even inof action not to defeat NATO, atthe event of non-democratic changes
but NATO’s strategy.
to the status quo. Russia is banking
on the hope that NATO will either beincapable or unwilling to transform this strategic defeat into active conventional
combat, which would further undermine NATO’s goal of preserving the peace.
In effect, the Russians seem to have realised that by defeating NATO’s strategy at
the outset of a confrontation, they can actually alter political perceptions within
the Alliance in a way that suits their objectives. Put somewhat differently, therisk of a forceful NATO response to some provocation is minimised by keeping the death and destruction associated with any fait accompli to an absolute
minimum. NATO is especially vulnerable to cyberattacks and information warfare because Russia can undermine NATO’s deterrent strategy without causing
casualties. NATO has the option of reversing the fait accompli, but the required
level of death and destruction simply highlights the failure of its deterrent
strategy.

34

Cyber power, as a key facet of hybrid warfare, is an important enabler in an
attack on NATO’s deterrent strategy.12 Cyber attacks are not specifically targeted
to eliminate key nodes, but to intensify the fog of war by sowing confusion withincommand and control networks andNATO polities. For instance, according
Cyber power is an impor­
to press reports, Russian movement intotant enabler in an attack on
the Ukraine was accompanied by myrNATO’s deterrent strategy.
iad cyber attacks, including Distributed
Denial of Service (DDoS) tactics against
computers in Kyiv, Poland, the European Parliament, and the European Commission.13 If local political and military leaders cannot develop an accurate estimateof quickly developing events, critical hours or even days can be gained with which
Russia can create facts on the ground that can only be reversed at great effort. A little
bit of ‘sand in the works’, so to speak, is enough to further delay the relatively slowpace of decision-making in the West.14
The annexation of Crimea also began with a series of covert operations that useda disinformation campaign to create ambiguity and delay Ukraine’s response, effectively extending the element of surprise achieved by the Russian gambit. According
to Michael Kofman and Matthew Rohansky:‘Russia’s use of broadcast tools for propaganda and psychological operations,part of a broader information campaign to support the Crimean annexation,caught both the Ukraine and the West by surprise. Moscow amped up thealarmist content of its broadcasting . . . stoking fear and confusion in Crimea’.15
Admittedly, the annexation was completed using more traditional operations
involving conventional units, but the cyber-enabled opening moves not only
allowed Russia to test the Western response, but to buy the time needed to create afait accompli through conventional means.
Western analysts have noted that even though the Crimea crisis surprised theWest, the Russian effort to integrate television and the internet, especially various
12

13
14

15

As Michael Kofman and Matthew Rojansky note, ‘hybrid warfare,’ including the Russian variations used against the Ukraine
is not unique. The point here, however, is that Russia is particularly adept as using cyber power in the practice of hybrid warfare; see Kofman and Rojansky, (op cit) p. 2. Other analysts have noted how the Crimea annexation and the additional actions
against Ukraine were dependant on capabilities long under development that were especially crafted not to trigger a NATO
response; Aleksandr Golts and Heidi Reisinger. ‘Russia’s Hybrid Warfare: Waging War below the Radar of Traditional Collective Defence,’ Research Paper No 105 (Research Division – NATO Defence College Rome) November 2014.
Owen Matthews. ‘BIG READ: Russia leading the way in the cyber arms race,’ Irish Examiner, Saturday June 13, 2015. www.
irishexaminer.com’lifestyle’feature’big-read-russia-leading-the-way-in-the-cyber-arms-race-336675.html.
The key point is that information denial or dominance does not have to be absolute, it just needs to foster delay and uncertainty in Western political and military decision-making. According to Paul Saunders, ‘Russia’s seizure of Crimea happened
very quickly. U.S. and European decision-making processes just don’t move at that speed, particularly when facing ambiguity.
Once a Crimea-style operation has begun, it will be extremely difficult if not impossible for Western decision-makers to be
sufficiently confident about the other side’s intent to take consequential action before it’s too late’; Saunders, P. ‘Why America
Can’t Stop Russia’s Hybrid Warfare,’ The National Interest June 23, 2015. www.nationalinterest.org/feature/shy-america-can’tstop-russias-hybrid-warfare-13166.
Kofman and Rojansky, p. 4.

35

types of social media, into its effort to shape opponents’ political perspectives, hasbeen ongoing for quite some time. In a sense, Russia has worked hard to use theinternet to shape the political environment of conflict: it has (1) developed internally and externally focused media with a significant online presence; (2) usedsocial media to guarantee that Russian narratives reach the broadest possible audience; and (3) polished their content in terms of language and presentation so thatit rings true in various cultural settings.16 These activities have recently been given
their own moniker – trolling – the practice of creating cyber actors with false identities to communicate tailored messages to an unsuspecting audience.17 According
to Keir Giles:‘Russian assessments of current events makes it clear that Russia considers itself
to be engaged in full-scale information warfare, involving not only offensive
but defensive operations – whether or not its notional adversaries have actually
noticed this is happening’.18
What most analysts fail to realise, however, is that Moscow has shaped thiscyber-enabled information warfare in a very strategic manner. Cyber power is being
wielded as a strategic weapon to create facts on the ground with the minimal use of
kinetic force.

3

Conclusion

Because of its rather inchoate nature, the cyber domain is a milieu in which various strategic cultures can be manifest. Russian strategic culture focuses on war as apolitical activity; for cyber power to have a truly strategic effect, Russia believes thatit must contribute directly to shaping political outcomes by altering the politicalperceptions of their opponents to better suit their interests. If one also accepts theidea that Russians are especially adept at understanding the political and strategic
impact of new technologies, it is possible that they have grasped the real strategic
opportunities created by the information revolution – opportunities that might begiven short shrift by analysts shaped by different strategic cultures.
The true test of strategy, however, is found in a specific geopolitical and militarycontext. In terms of Crimea and Ukraine, the Russians have developed an exquisite
strategic application of cyber power not to defeat NATO’s military capabilities, but
to defeat NATO’s strategy by creating a fait accompli while sidestepping NATO’s
deterrent. By using cyber power to create ‘facts on the ground’ with minimal casual16
17
18

Keir Giles. ‘Working Paper: Russia’s Hybrid Warfare: a Success in Propaganda,’ European Security and Defence College, 18
February 2015. www.baks.bund.de’de’aktuelles/working-paper-russias-hybrid-warfe-a-success-in propaganda
Adrian Chen. ‘The Agency,’ New York Times Magazine, June 2, 2015. p. 57.
Giles.

36

ties, they shifted the onus of escalation onto NATO to reverse the fait accompli. In asense, they created a situation in which NATO leaders must choose between suffering a harsh strategic defeat (the eruption of war in Europe) and the accommodationof the Russian annexation of Crimea and ongoing pressure against Ukraine. Cyber
power, either in the form of direct attacks or a concerted information campaign, wasused to create this dilemma for NATO by delaying a Western response until thesestark choices emerged. The lesson is clear: if one can defeat an opponent’s strategy,
then it is possible to achieve one’s objectives without defeating an opponent’s forces
or triggering execution of a deterrent threat.

Chapter 4‘Compelling Opponents
to Our Will’: The Role ofCyber Warfare in Ukraine
James Andrew Lewis
Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)

1

Metric for Cyber Attack

The conflict in Ukraine has challenged fundamental elements of Western alliancestrategy. Russian efforts exploit a general reluctance by the West – natural in democracies – to risk war. The West has been unable to deter Russia from its adventure.
Cyber warfare has played only a limited role in this. The concepts of strategic andmilitary effect provide us with two metrics for assessing the effect of cyber attacks generally, and for Russian cyber activities in Ukraine. Strategic effect would be to diminish the opponent’s will or capacity to resist. This can include politically coercive cyber
actions such as were used against Estonia. Military effect would be degradation in theperformance of commanders, troops, and weapons, demonstrated by U.S. actions in
its Middle Eastern conflicts or as part of the 2007 Israeli airstrike in Syria1.
Cyber attacks that produce strategic or military effect can include the manipulation of software, data, knowledge, and opinion to degrade performance and produce
political or psychological effect. Introducing uncertainty into the minds of opposing
commanders or political leaders is a worthy military objective. Manipulating public
opinion to damage an opponent’s legitimacy and authority in both domestic andinternational audiences is also valuable. Some actions may provide only symbolic
effect aimed at a domestic audience, but this too is valuable for a nation in conflict.
1

David Makovsky. ‘The Silent Strike: How Israel bombed a Syrian nuclear installation and kept it secret,’ The New Yorker, 17September 2012, http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/09/17/the-silent-strike.

39

To assess non-kinetic effect as a contributor for strategic or military advantage, we must look for observable effects in three categories: creating confusion,
shaping opinion, and inflicting damage to data or services. Using these metrics,
we can conclude that Russian cyber efforts in Ukraine produced an early tacticaleffect that has since tapered off and, since they are limited to actions that do not
produce physical or disruptive consequences, have largely failed to achieve strategic or military effect.

2

Strategic and Military Effect

The Ukraine conflict has been described as hybrid warfare; a mixture of unconventional tactics and strategies, irregular forces, covert action, cyber operations, andpolitical manipulation to achieve strategic goals. In essence, hybrid warfare is a collection of tactics designed to circumvent deterrence and avoid military retaliation
by skirting the threshold of what could be considered state use of armed force. In
this new style of conflict, non-kinetic actions can be as important as kinetic attacks.
Hybrid warfare highlights the central problem for our understanding and management of interstate conflict; conventional warfare is now only part of a larger range of
coercive actions available to nations.
Cyber operations – the ability to remotely manipulate computer networks – havecreated a capability that is well suited
to this new political-military environCyber capabilities create an
ment. Cyber capabilities create an operoperational space in whichational space in which nations can connations can conduct offensive duct offensive action with less politicalrisk, given the grey area in international
action with less political risk.
law which cyber war inhabits, andwhere opponents can find it difficult to
respond. Advanced cyber action can create physical effects equivalent to kinetic
attack, but we should not interpret cyber capabilities solely from the perspective ofphysical effect.
While cyber attacks can produce effects similar to kinetic weapons, there is an
informational aspect involving the manipulation of opinion and decision-making
that is equally important and much more frequently used. Cyber attack can produce results equivalent to kinetic attack, but this is not its primary effect, which(at least for now) is to manipulate data, knowledge, and opinion to produce political or psychological effect rather than physical damage. Introducing uncertainty
into the minds of opposing commanders or political leaders is a worthwhile military goal, as it will cause them to make mistakes or to become hesitant, providing
the attacker with dominance of the battle space and the advantage of putting thedefender in a reactive posture. Cyber actions that manipulate public opinion to40

affect an opponent’s legitimacy and authority are also valuable in conflict amongstates.
Cyber attack creates an operational space for coercive action that avoids manyof the political risks of kinetic warfare. Cyber attacks are attractive in that they offer
varying degrees of covertness and their treatment under international law remains
ambiguous in regard to whether they qualify as an ‘armed attack’ that would legitimise retaliation. Although cyber tools and techniques can be used in harmful ways,
they are not weapons per se, which can make it difficult to decide when a cyberincident can be considered an armed attack or a use of force.
An initial effort to define how a cyber incident could qualify as a use of force
or armed attack would be to consider that an effect of the cyber action was theequivalent of an attack using conventional weapons producing physical destruction or casualties. A cyber incident that produced injury or death to persons
and the destruction of or damage to property would certainly be considered asa use of force or armed attack. A cyber attack that produced intangible effectsof such scope, intensity, and duration that they are judged to have consequencesor harmful effects of sufficient scale and gravity could also be considered anarmed attack.
No Russian action in Ukraine rises to this level. Overall, the use of offensive
cyber capabilities for kinetic effect has been minimal, with only a few known incidents. Russia is one of the most skilled among the nations who have developed
cyber capabilities, but we have not seen extensive use of actual attacks against
Ukraine. Neither critical infrastructure nor Ukrainian weapons have been damaged
or disrupted. Russia has used its cyber capabilities primarily for political coercion,
opinion-shaping, and intelligence gathering, and these cyber operations fall below
the threshold set in Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty. Operations in Estonia,
Georgia, and now Ukraine suggest that NATO may need to adjust its thinking about
how opponents will use cyber attacks.
Russia has been relatively careful in the overt use of its own forces – especiallycompared to its actions against Georgia where the Russian Ministry of Defence confirmed that Russian armoured units were engaged in combat for ‘peace enforcement’. The Russian army occupied Georgian territory and Russian aircraft bombed
targets including the capital.2 Russian actions in Ukraine took a different course.
The current caution may reflect lessons learned in Georgia or a desire to preserve
some degree of deniability, and manoeuvring to avoid an overt violation of international law.
Cyber attack does not require ‘an act of violence to compel our opponent tofulfil our will’.3 Violence through cyber means is possible, but that is not the onlyor even primary use of cyber attack. Its effects are more often intangible and23

Library of Congress, Russian Federation: Legal Aspects of War in Georgia, http://www.loc.gov/law/help/russian-georgia-war.
php.
Clausewitz’s definition of war.

41

informational, and are intended to manipulate data, create uncertainty, and shapeopinion. An emphasis on kinetic effect can obscure important operational distinctions in the use of cyber techniques and complicates efforts to develop norms
for cyber conflict.

3

Norms and the Application of International Law4

Russia’s activities in Ukraine have implications for both cyber warfare and for cybernorms. Russian actions have carved new contours for conflict that do not map perfectly to existing concepts and rules for warfare and defence. Existing norms andlaws for armed attack were based on the use or threat of use of physical violence andforce. These must be adjusted, if not amended, for cyber conflict.
Efforts to redefine violence and force to include the full range of possible
cyber actions (such as Russian and Chinese efforts in the United Nations (UN)to define information as a weapon5) have so far introduced more ambiguity
than clarity. Information is clearly not a weapon, but a minimalist definition
that emphasises kinetic effect is also inadequate in capturing the full range ofcyber effects.
As such, the ‘rules’ for cyber conflictThe ‘rules’ for cyber conflict pose a challenge to existing internationallaw. Currently, there is no agreement
pose a challenge to existing
among leading nations, and it is interestinternational law.
ing to note that with the 2015 Group ofGovernmental Experts (GGE), which was
tasked to look at the application of international law to cyber conflict,6 this topic
proved to be the most difficult. Disagreements over the application of internationallaw between Russia, China and a few others on one hand, and NATO nations on theother, almost derailed the talks.
The crux of the disagreement was over the application of specific provisionsof the UN Charter, (the general applicability of the Charter had been agreed toin earlier GGEs), and in particular the applicability of Article 2/4 (renouncing
the use of force) and Article 51 (the inherent right to self-defence). One question for the development of further norms for cyber conflict becomes whether
it is possible to move beyond the norms embedded in the UN Charter and theinternational agreements governing the conduct of warfare and armed conflict,to address this new aspect of warfare and to create norms that govern non-ki4
5
6

The author was rapporteur to the UN Group of Governmental Experts in 2010, 2013 and 2015.
See, for example, SCO, Agreement between the Governments of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
on Cooperation in the Field of International Information Security, 2009, https://ccdcoe.org/sites/default/files/documents/
SCO-090616-IISAgreementRussian.pdf [in Russian].
Along with norms and confidence building measures, see Group of Governmental Experts Report on Developments in the Field
of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security, A/70/174, 22 July 2015, UNODA, http://www.
un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/70/174.

42

netic action. One possible avenue for progress would be to expand the Charter
commitment to avoid actions that threaten the territorial integrity or politicalindependence of a state (found in Articles 2/4 and 51) to explicitly include cyber
actions.
Continued ambiguity over the application of these UN Charter articles serves
the interests of Russia and China by not creating grounds for or legitimising retaliation for cyber actions.7 This includes a general rejection of Western efforts to define‘use of force’ and ‘armed attack’ using the concepts of equivalence and effect. Theseambiguities, however, are not unique to cyber conflict, date from the signing of theCharter, and reflect conflicting desires to renounce the use of force while preserving
the right to use force in self-defence. The Russian and Chinese goal, similar to otheractions in arms control negotiations by these countries, is to constrain the U.S. andits allies.
Intentional ambiguity may define the emerging strategic conflict between Russia
and the West for the foreseeable future. Russian cyber tactics accentuate and expand
ambiguity. The Russian concept of cyber warfare blends elements of what would
be considered information warfare in the West. It is well known that the Russians
prefer to use the phrase ‘information conflict’ to ‘cyber conflict’ on the grounds thatcyber is too narrow and technical. Unsurprisingly, this preference reflects their use
and understanding of cyber techniques.
The norms before the UN General Assembly for approval at its 70th session willreiterate the rule of international law and the UN Charter, although how these are
to be applied is a matter of intense dispute. They call for states not to attack criticalinfrastructure in peacetime, and to take note of the principles of humanity, necessity, proportionality, and distinction whey they exercise their inherent rights recognised by the UN Charter, including the right of self-defence. They do not address
the use of cyber tools for political coercion, and it is interesting and indicative tonote that Russia, which has made the most frequent use of cyber coercion, is theleading proponent for such norms.
State practice suggests that there is an implicit threshold among states to avoid
cyber actions against each other that could be interpreted as the use of force oran armed attack. This creates implicit norms for state behaviour derived frominternational practice that constrain malicious cyber actions, but these implicit
norms are inadequate for this new form of conflict. The kind of cyber conflict
we have seen in Ukraine poses a challenge not only to existing Western strategy(which is based on international law and UN Charter commitments) but also forthe development of norms. If the trend in warfare is to circumvent direct confrontation between conventional forces (particularly the conventional forces of
the U.S. and its allies), and if cyber conflict will often not involve kinetic effector territorial intrusions, existing norms and rules for conflict will have limited
application.
7

According to conversations between the author and GGE representatives from many countries.

43

We can place cyber norms into four categories:• Those that call for observation of existing international law regarding
state responsibility, especially the laws of armed conflict;• Those that seek to exempt from cyber attack infrastructures where an
attack could have an indiscriminate effect such as critical infrastructures, including the infrastructure of the global internet;• Norms on state responsibilities to assist other states that are the victim
of cyber attacks; and• Norms on the proliferation of cyber technologies that could be used
for malevolent purposes (which is still nascent and suffers from definitional problems).
None of these norms can be easily extended to the new modes of coercion createdby cyber capabilities. The stricture that comes closest is the Article 2/4 commitment
to refrain from the use of force against the political independence of another state, butcyber actions such as we have seen in Ukraine cannot be considered a use of force.
Cyber actions that do not have physical effect and which are taken outside the context of formal conflict do not fit well with the existing structure of international practice.
Nations appear to observe an implicit threshold for their use of cyber tools and with very
few exceptions, have avoided actions that could be considered under international law
as a use of force or an armed attack. Attempts to expand these implicit understandings
or to redefine the use of force to include coerNations appear to observe cive or politically manipulative cyber actions
immediately run into problems. The central
an implicit threshold forproblem is access to information, because sevtheir use of cyber tools.
eral countries would happily support a normthat restricts access to information.
Russia, in particular, is quick to label any criticism of its behaviour as disinformation, information warfare, or propaganda. Russian negotiating behaviour, shaped ingood measure by Soviet precedent, is often defensive, seeking to constrain the U.S.
and its allies in areas where the West has a technological advantage, or to limit thepolitical risks the internet creates. This defensive orientation creates a negotiating
agenda that conflicts with Western countries when it comes to norms.

4Comparing Ukraine to Estonia and Georgia

Contrasting Russian cyber activities in Ukraine with Estonia and Georgia is helpful
in assessing their use and value, as well as in considering what new norms mightlook like. The cyber attacks in Estonia8, composed of service disruptions and denial
8

Eneken Tikk, Kadri Kaska and Liis Vihul. International Cyber Incidents: Legal Considerations (Tallinn, Estonia: NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence of Excellence, 2010).

44

of service incidents, could best be compared to the online equivalent of a noisy protest in front of government buildings and banks. They had little tangible effect, butthey created uncertainty and fear among Estonian leaders as they were considered apotential precursor to armed Russian intervention. In Georgia9, cyber attacks wereclosely coordinated with Russian military operations.
The effects of the cyber attacks in Estonia and Georgia deserve more careful
study. The attacks did not cripple or bring Estonia to its knees, and NATO’s decision
not to invoke Article V reflects this fact. They were frightening not because of thecyber effect, but because of Estonian concerns about Russian intentions, NATO’sreliability, and their internal Russian-speaking minority. Similarly, cyber attacks on
Georgia were largely symbolic. The most visible incident was the defacement of the
Georgian President’s website by Russian hackers, who drew moustaches on his photograph. The most interesting part of the Georgia episode was the close operational
coordination between the hackers and the Russian military. The Russians continue
to experiment with cyber tools to support their political objectives.
If the Russian goal in Ukraine is to shape global public opinion, there were someearly successes in painting the Ukrainians as ‘fascists’ (a favoured communist insult)guilty of human rights violations. But no one believes that anymore, and the tideof public opinion has turned heavily against Russia. A recent Pew Research survey
on global opinion captures the change and isentitled ‘Russia, Putin, Held in Low Esteem
If the Russian goal isaround the World’.10 In this, the current Rusto shape global publicsian regime has not done as well as its communist predecessors, who could at least cloak
opinion, there were early
their actions in the rhetoric of Marxism. Russuccesses in painting thesia’s current effort to hire hundreds of internet
Ukrainians as ‘fascists’.
trolls11 to insert pro-Russian opinions in theWestern press has proven to be feckless. Perhaps the benefit is domestic, persuading the Russian population of the righteousness of Russia’s course of action,12 but as a tool of coercion, the absence of informational disruption (as in the case of Sony or Aramco) or physical effects (as with
Stuxnet) makes Russian cyber operations annoying, but ultimately inconsequential.
The most successful Russian tactics were creating or supporting pro-Russian
separatist groups in areas with significant Russian-speaking minorities and thenusing Russian special and ultimately conventional forces to stiffen and protect thesegroups from the Ukrainian response. Cyber attack was largely irrelevant.
9
10
11
12

Ibid.
Bruce Stokes. ‘Russia, Putin, Held in Low Esteem around the World,’ Pew Research Centre, 5 August 2015, http://www.pewglobal.org/2015/08/05/russia-putin-held-in-low-regard-around-the-world/.
See, for example, Dmitry Volchek and Daisy Sindelar, ‘One Professional Russian Troll Tells All,’ RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty,
25 March 2015, sec. Russia, http://www.rferl.org/content/how-to-guide-russian-trolling-trolls/26919999.html.
Katie Simmons, Bruce Strokes and Jacob Poushter. ‘NATO Publics Blame Russia for Ukrainian Crisis, but Reluctant to Provide Military Aid,’ Pew Research Centre, 15 July 2015, http://www.pewglobal.org/2015/06/10/2-russian-public-opinion-putinpraised-west-panned/.

45

Both Western and Russian analysts may have drawn the wrong lessons from
Estonia and Georgia. States (especially states with a fondness for Lenin) will use
cyber attacks for politically coercive purposes and might use them for military
purposes, to disrupt data or services. But the incidents in Ukraine did not disrupt
command and control, deny access to information, or have any noticeable militaryeffect.
This means that we (and the Russians) may overestimate the coercive effect ofcyber attacks and that their real military value is achieved when there is physicaleffect or disruption of data and critical services, something that most denial of service attacks cannot produce. Cyber attacks are a support weapon and will shapethe battlefield, but by themselves they will not produce victory. Cyber attacks support other weapons and operations, as in the 2007 Israeli attack against Syrian air
defence. This is still a subject of intense debate, but experience suggests that it iseasy to exaggerate the effect of cyber attack. A more accurate assessment would rank
cyber activities into three categories: espionage, operational, and political. However,note that the benefits of the former are clear, while the latter are open to question.
To provide strategic or military effect, cyber actions must produce destructive
effect and be integrated into existing military structures, doctrine, planning, andoperations. Estonia and Georgia can be contrasted with two known attacks that did
have military effect. The Israeli air strike against a Syrian nuclear facility is reported
to have used cyber means to disrupt
Syrian air defence radars, allowing theIf cyber is the weaponisation
aircraft to fly undetected across muchof signals intelligence, thereof the country.13 In this case, there wasmust be physical damage.
no physical damage but a vital service
was disrupted. With Stuxnet, there wasphysical damage, albeit inflicted covertly, that could be duplicated in overt warfare,noting that a degree of caution is warranted to predict the effect of cyber attacks on
civilian infrastructure.14 We should also note the reported use of cyber techniquesby the U.S. to disrupt or confuse Taliban command and control, often with lethal
results for the insurgents.15 If cyber is the weaponisation of signals intelligence, itappears that to have actual military effect, there must be physical damage.
This is a consideration of cyber as a tool of military action and does not consider
either traditional methods of electronic warfare, which Russia has used extensivelyin Ukraine,16 nor the intelligence value of Russian cyber espionage. We do not know
the role cyber espionage played in these efforts, but if Russian successes against theUnited States are any guide, we can assume cyber spying made a positive contribu13
14
15
16

David Makovsky. ‘The Silent Strike: How Israel bombed a Syrian nuclear installation and kept it secret,’ The New Yorker, 17September 2012, http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/09/17/the-silent-strike.
Kim Zetter. ‘An Unprecedented Look At Stuxnet, The World’s First Digital Weapon,’ Wired, 3 November 2014, http://www.
wired.com/2014/11/countdown-to-zero-day-stuxnet/.
Interviews with US military officials.
Joe Gould. ‘Electronic Warfare: What US Army Can Learn From Ukraine,’ Defense News, 4 August 2015, http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/policy-budget/warfare/2015/08/02/us-army-ukraine-russia-electronic-warfare/30913397/.

46

tion. That Russia has completely penetrated Ukrainian communication networks
and has unparalleled access to Ukrainian communications is likely to provide considerable value for Russian tactics and planning, but cyber as a tool of coercion has
proven to be of limited utility.
This is certainly not the cyber war as it is often depicted in public media, but
it does not mean that cyber attack is overrated and militaries can deemphasise it.
That would be a rash conclusion. It means that the Russians, for whatever reason,chose not to use the most damaging forms of cyber attack against Ukraine, Georgia,
or Estonia. If allegations that Russia were responsible for damaging cyber attacks
on a German steel mill17 and a Turkish pipeline18 are correct, these would demonstrate that Russia has the capability necessary for cyber attacks that would create
physical damage and qualify as a use of force. Russia’s 2008 exploit in penetrating
Central Command’s classified networks19 was an early demonstration of its ability
to implant malware on an opponent’s networks that could erase data and disrupt
command and control, but the Russians chose not to do this.
In Ukraine, Russia has experimented with how best to produce military andpolitical benefits from cyber operations. Political context and alliance relationships
have a powerful influence in constraining the use of force, including cyber attacks.
Its cyber actions appear to reflect a decision not to engage the full range of Russian
cyber capabilities. Other potential opponents, including NATO, should not assume
that in the event of conflict, the Russians will make the same decision.

17
18
19

‘Hack attack causes ‘massive damage’ at steel works,’ BBC, 22 December 2014, http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30575104.
Ariel Bogle. ‘A Cyber Attack May Have Caused a Turkish Oil Pipeline to Catch Fire in 2008,’ Slate, 11 December 2014, http://
www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/12/11/bloomberg_reports_a_cyber_attack_may_have_made_a_turkish_oil_pipeline_catch.html.
Phil Stewart and Jim Wolf. ‘Old worm won’t die after 2008 attack on military,’ Reuters, 16 June 2011, http://www.reuters.com/
article/2011/06/17/us-usa-cybersecurity-worm-idUSTRE75F5TB20110617.

Chapter 5

The Cyber War
that Wasn’t
Martin Libicki
RAND

1Introduction: Isn’t It Time for Cyber War?

For the last twenty years, with the advent of serious thinking about ‘cyber war’, mostanalysts – and even the more sceptical thinkers – have been convinced that all future
kinetic wars between modern countries would have a clear cyber component. However, the current Russo-Ukrainian conflict is challenging this widely held notion.
Coinciding with this assumption, however, it must be said that within the past
generation there have been few conflicts in which both sides appeared both capable of and vulnerable to cyber attack. Either one party to the conflict – usually theUnited States – held all the cyber cards, or neither did. For cyber war to take place,at least one side must have enough digitised networked equipment to makeAnalysts have been convincedmuch difference. In some past conflicts,
that future kinetic wars would
the US may have abstained from firhave a clear cyber component.
ing digital weapons because the otherside simply lacked appropriate targets.
Many analysts have speculated that the US, and now other highly networked societies, may hesitate to use cyber tactics because of their own inherent vulnerabilities
in this domain.
Apart from Stuxnet, the most frequently cited example of cyber war in action
came during an alleged Israel Air Force strike against Syrian nuclear facilities in2007. Integrated air-defence systems (IADS) have been considered ripe targets for49

cyber warfare, but it was understood that there would be a cost-benefit analysis
relative to dispatching them using more familiar tools such as electronic warfare or
missiles. There were rumours, for example, that the US employed cyberwar techniques against Serbian IADS in 1999, but these rumours were never substantiated.
Even the Syrian story may be a fairy tale, as the details are classified and subject tomuch speculation. It is possible that the tactics were in fact more conventional, suchas traditional jamming.1

2

Unique Aspects of the Russo-Ukrainian Conflict

The current Russo-Ukrainian conflict, however, is a different case, and it should
help us to understand if cyber war is, in 2015, more myth or reality. According to
the prevailing assumption, this war should have seen serious and open cyber war
strategies and tactics. Both countries have technologically advanced societies andweaponry that at least came up to 1990 standards of modernity. Both countries havea strong information technology (IT) base, and hackers a-plenty, although manyof them are engaged in organised crime rather than working for the state.2 Russia’s
state-sponsored hackers are widely believed to be on par with, or very close to, NSAlevel standards.
The most notable thing about the war in Ukraine, however, is the near-complete absence of any perceptible cyber war. There has been vigorous cyber espionage,3 the targeting of cell phones by Russian electronic warfare, and the useof old-fashioned bolt-cutters to sever lines of communication in Crimea.4
Patriotic hacktivists on both sides have conducted harassing but small cyberattacks against each other,5 both sides have conducted Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks (e.g., by Russia against Ukraine’s parliament),6 and

1
2
3

4

5
6

As Richard Clarke and Robert Knake maintain in Cyberwar, The Next Threat to National Security and What to do About It, NewYork NY: HarperCollins, 2010; see also David Makovsky. ‘The Silent Strike: How Israel bombed a Syrian nuclear installationand kept it secret,’ The New Yorker, 17 September 2012, http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/09/17/the-silent-strike.
Ukraine’s hackers do not make as much news but consider Dan Goodin. ‘Strange snafu hijacks UK nuke maker’s traffic, routes
it through Ukraine,’ ARS Technica UK, 13 March 2015, http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/03/mysterious-snafu-hijacks-uknukes-makers-traffic-through-ukraine/.
Apparently, the Russians have developed some powerful malware for that purpose against Ukraine: cyber-snake (aka Ouroboros). See Sam Jones. ‘Cyber Snake plagues Ukraine networks,’ FT Online, 7 March 2014, in http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/615c29ba-a614-11e3-8a2a-00144feab7de.html or David Sanger and Steven Erlanger, ‘Suspicion Falls on Russia as ‘Snake’ Cyberattacks Target Ukraine’s Government’ NY Times Online, 8 March 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/09/world/europe/
suspicion-falls-on-russia-as-snake-cyberattacks-target-ukraines-government.html.
Sam Jones. ‘Kremlin alleged to wage cyber warfare on Kiev,’ FT Online, 5 June 2014, http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e504e278e29d-11e3-a829-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3b4c6egXI. See also the claim of General Breedlove, EUCOM’s Commander: ‘They
disconnected the Ukrainian forces in Crimea from their command and control,’ from Michael Gordon. ‘NATO Commander
Says He Sees Potent Threat From Russia,’ NY Time Online, 2 April 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/03/world/europe/
nato-general-says-russian-force-poised-to-invade-ukraine.html.
‘‘Cyber Berkut’ Hackers Target Major Ukrainian Bank,’ The Moscow Times, 4 June 2014, http://www.themoscowtimes.com/
business/article/cyber-berkut-hackers-target-major-ukrainian-bank/502992.html of July 4, 2014.
Nicole Perloth. ‘Cyberattacks Rise as Ukraine Crisis Spills to Internet,’ New York Times Bits, 4 March 2014, http://bits.blogs.
nytimes.com/2014/03/04/cyberattacks-rise-as-ukraine-crisis-spills-on-the-internet/.

50

a (fruitless) campaign to corrupt voting processes in Ukraine.7 However, wehave seen nothing comparable to the cyber attacks carried out against Estonia
in 2007 or Georgia in 2008.
On the other hand, the information and propaganda war in the social media
domain (particularly from the Russian side) has been relentless. In this regard, Moscow has a competitive advantage over Kyiv. The two countries share a common language, Russian (the use of the Ukrainian language is growing fast, but that language
is Slavic), and most Russian-language-friendly sites such as VKontakte (the Russian
Facebook) are headquartered in Russia. That said, little if any of the conflict taking
place in social media requires subverting computers through the discovery of vulnerabilities or the engagement of exploits.
In particular, there are two major forms of cyber attack that have not taken placein the Russo-Ukrainian conflict: attacks on critical infrastructure and attacks on
defence systems. It is possible that, in the
future, we may learn that there have been
Two major forms of cybersuch attacks, but that they were simply
attack have not taken place:subtle enough to slip under the radar.
With Stuxnet, Iran’s centrifuge plant at
on critical infrastructure andNatanz was infected for six months, withon defence systems.
centrifuges failing at unexpected rates,
before Iranian engineers understoodwhy. Successful cyber attacks could indefinitely be ascribed to incompetent management before a complete picture is understood. And as for military systems, credible stories of their successful attacks may emerge years later, when people are freer
to talk about what happened in the war.
Even with all of that in mind, in the Internet era it has become difficult to keep
secrets for long periods of time, and the growing absence of cyber attack evidence isturning into the evidence of absence.

3

Possible Reasons for the Absence of Cyber Conflict

So, based on what we know now, why has this kinetic conflict seen so little cyberconflict? Here are some possible answers to that question.
Ukraine does not have the requisite hackers. Russian hackers need no introduction. They work for the state, for cyber crime syndicates, and for themselves as patriotic hacktivist defenders of Mother Russia. However, on the Ukrainian side (a muchsmaller nation to begin with), it is possible that a large percentage of the hacker
talent is of Russian descent and may have divided loyalties in this conflict. That said,
7Mark Clayton. ‘Ukraine election narrowly avoided ‘wanton destruction’ from hackers,’ Christian Science Monitor, 17 June 2014,
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Passcode/2014/0617/Ukraine-election-narrowly-avoided-wanton-destruction-from-hackers-video.

51

many small countries have made large contributions in cyberspace, including Estonia, Iceland, Lebanon8 and Israel.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine has valid targets. This gets closer to the truth.
Although the Soviet Union of 1990 had sophisticated weapons, their long suits werein metallurgy and radio-frequency devices. When the Soviet Union collapsed, it
was significantly behind the West in terms of electronics and software. In the last
five years, there has been a modest recapitalisation in Russia, but close to none in
Ukraine. Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has for the most part
maintained its substantial lead over Russia in digitisation and networking. Thus,
US fears about its systems falling prey to hackers are currently not shared by the
majority of nation-states, who feel that they are not particularly vulnerable. However, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle: for example, no one is buying
analogue telecommunications systems anymore, not even in the developing world.
New equipment is digital and networked, not only because it is more powerful, but
because it is cheaper over the long run. Therefore, even in Russia and Ukraine, thelevel of digitisation is likely high enough to engender real concerns about their societies’ vulnerability to cyber attack. Their militaries may be antiquated, but due to theclose relationship between the IT of modern civilian and military domains, there is
probably still plenty for hackers to target.
There is no need – The Russians already own Ukraine: Much of Ukraine’s infrastructure – notably the phone system – dates from the Soviet era. It is logical, therefore, that the Russians have already wired the phone system for interception and, itwould hardly be in their interest to take it down.9 This explanation does not explain
anything the Ukrainian side has or has not done, nor does it explain the lack ofattacks on other systems such as power, natural gas distribution or finance. However, it may help to understand a lack of attacks on telecommunications, given that acyber attack could disrupt a lucrative cyber espionage operation by alerting defenders that their systems have been penetrated and forcing a system scrub. Such action
may not only knock out existing implants but also make the reinsertion of malware
more difficult. The effects of cyber attack tend to be short term, while stealthy cyber
exploitation can persist for years. Therefore, for strategic purposes, attacks such as
Denial-of-Service (DoS) can be counterproductive. Well-designed technologies like
Skype, however, which have end-to-end encryption, could lessen the value of cyberespionage over time (but not by much, because encryption does not protect if computers on one or both ends of the conversation are compromised), and increase thelikelihood of denial-of-service attacks.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine wants such an escalation: In theory, the Russo-Ukrainian conflict is not a war between two states, but an insurgency and count8
9

Kelly Jackson Higgins. ‘Lebanon Believed behind Newly Uncovered Cyber Espionage Operation,’ Information Week, 31 March
2015, http://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/lebanon-believed-behind-newly-uncovered-cyber-espionage-operation/d/d-id/1319695.
Jeffrey Carr, quoted in Patrick Tucker. ‘Why Ukraine Has Already Lost The Cyberwar, Too,’ Defence One, 28 April 2014, http://
www.defenseone.com/technology/2014/04/why-ukraine-has-already-lost-cyberwar-too/83350/.

52

er-insurgency campaign over territory in eastern Ukraine. According to the Russian
Government, Russian forces are not even in the fight, and thus far, neither country’s
infrastructure (outside the battle zone) has been touched. In this context, if Russia
were to attack Ukraine’s infrastructure or vice versa it would be hard to ascribe theattack to separatists, who likely would not possess the requisite advanced hacker
skills among their ‘patriotic hacker’ ranks. Organised crime syndicates may have thetechnical expertise, but may lack the trust or the intelligence-informed approachrequired. Still, given that both of these groups enjoy some state protection in Russia,
such an operation is not out of the question. The more important point here is thatany such escalation could change the narrative of the conflict from an inter-ethnic squabble to an interstate war. An obvious attack by Russia against Ukraine’s
infrastructure may conflict with its current political narrative. A Ukrainian attack
against Russia could be a warning signal to Moscow that it will have to pay a pricefor its actions (a sporty move indeed), as well as a sign that it cannot do better ina conventional fight with the Russian military. A wild card here is that cyber war
techniques in 2015 may be viewed in and of themselves as unduly escalatory, but
this fear likely does not apply to cyber attacks precisely focused on enemy military
targets in theatre where their use ought to seem no more alarming than the use of,say, electronic warfare. Finally, it is important to remember that two nuclear states
may easily prefer fighting without resorting to nuclear weapons; in cyber warfare,many analysts have noted that any two sides are likely riddled with exploitable vulnerabilities.10
Cyber war is not a ‘silver bullet’. Proponents of cyber war argue that attacks arecheap, asymmetric, effective, and risk-free. But what if they are wrong? A truly successful cyber attack – one that does more than simply annoy defenders – is harderthan it looks. Penetrating systems without getting caught requires technical expertise that is in short supply. Preoperational reconnaissance and intelligence
A truly successful cyber attack
gathering of the kind required to cre– that does more than simply
ate politically interesting effects such as
against national critical infrastructure,annoy defenders – is harderor to target military defence systems
than it looks.
takes a long time and may not produce
practical results. In 2015, it is also possible that neither Russian nor Ukrainian systems are sufficiently wired to allow foreasy access and manipulation. Human-in-the-loop safeguards, for example, may
prevent truly serious damage from occurring except on rare occasions. Both crit10‘The Russians and Ukrainians have some of the best computer people in the world, because of the Soviet legacy military industrial complex,’ says Taras Kuzio, a Ukraine expert at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
‘These [Ukrainian] guys are fantastic. So if the Russians tried something like a cyberattack, they would get it right back. There
would be some patriotic hackers in Ukraine saying, ‘Just who are the Russians to do this to us?’ from Mark Clayton. ‘Where
are the cyberattacks? Russia’s curious forbearance in Ukraine,’ Christian Science Monitor, 3 March 2014, http://www.csmonitor.
com/World/Security-Watch/2014/0303/Where-are-the-cyberattacks-Russia-s-curious-forbearance-in-Ukraine.-video.

53

ical infrastructure and combat systems are designed to operate under a great dealof stress and unexpected events. Some states may already have calculated that theeffects of cyber war are limited, temporary, and hard to repeat. Attackers also fearthat digital weapons may work only once before defenders can plug the necessary
holes. In this light, is developing a cyber war arsenal really worth it?

4Conclusion

In 1972, when Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai was asked about the significance of
the French Revolution of 1789, he famously said, ‘It is too soon to say’.11 With
that logic in mind, it must be noted that the Internet is still a baby, and that cyberattacks are still in a nascent stage. Despite the prevailing 25 May 2015 ceasefire,the Russo-Ukrainian conflict is not over. Currently, it could be that neither side
wants to escalate this somewhat localised conflict into the realm of interstate war,and this may inhibit operations otherwise warranted in less opaque circumstances.
Both parties to the conflict are still exploring their best options, and both are surely
upgrading their traditional and digital military arsenals. Finally, it is hard to say
what current cyber operations may come to light in the future. However, in mid2015, the preponderance of evidence suggests that the easy assumption that cyberattacks would unquestionably be used in modern warfare has come up wanting.

11

Alas, one of the greatest quotes in international relations of the 20th century may have been misunderstood, as Chou wasactually referring to French protests of 1968. However, a diplomat present at the time said Chou’s comment was ‘too delicious
to invite correction.’ Dean Nicholas ‘Zhou Enlai’s Famous Saying Debunked,’ History Today, 15 June 2011, http://www.historytoday.com/blog/news-blog/dean-nicholas/zhou-enlais-famous-saying-debunked.

Chapter 6

Revolution Hacking
Nikolay Koval
CyS Centrum LLC

1Introduction: Cyber Conflict in Ukraine

During Ukraine’s revolution in 2014, I served our country as the chief of its Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-UA).1 During my tenure, we responded toa wide variety of network security incidents. I can say with great confidence that the
number and severity of cyber attacks against Ukraine rose in parallel with ongoing
political events.
Before the revolution, Ukraine
The number and severity ofexperienced a fairly typical array ofcyber attacks against Ukraine
incidents, the most frequent of which2were botnet-driven Distributed Denialrose in parallel with ongoingof Service (DDoS) attacks. Often, thesepolitical events.
came in retaliation for unpopular government initiatives, such as when theauthorities tried to shut down the file-sharing website www.ex.ua. By the end of
2012, some of the public’s frustration was channelled into politically motivated website ‘defacements’ (i.e. digital graffiti) within the government’s Internet Protocol (IP)space.
In 2013, we began to discover a much more serious class of malware. Network
vandalism had given way to a surge in cyber espionage, for which commercial cybersecurity companies developed a list of colourful names: RedOctober, MiniDuke,
NetTraveler, and many more.
1
2

CERT-UA lies within the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine.
In other words, the botnets were large enough that no other amplification was needed.

55

Once the revolution began in February 2014, even ordinary Ukrainians becamefamiliar with the combination of hacking and political activism, or ‘hacktivism’,in which the attackers seek to wage psychological war via the internet. Althoughmany people were exhausted by the momentous political events that had shaken
our country, it was hard to ignore the publication of allegedly leaked Ukrainian
government documents detailing a secret, fascist government agenda. The mostprominent hacktivist group was CyberBerkut,3 and it is their most famous attack
which is detailed below.
In the course of so many incident responses we learned that, with sufficient evidence, it is usually possible to understand the general nature of an attack, including
who the attackers might be and what they were seeking. Timing, context, victim
identity, and malware sophistication are good indicators. Cutting-edge spyware is
likely to be found on the computers of senior government officials or on important
network nodes within national critical infrastructure. For example, in one case, we
wondered why a private sector executive had been hit, and then discovered that hehad previously been a high-ranking government official.
In my opinion, CERT-UA – in collaboration with network security firms such as
Kaspersky Lab, Symantec, ESET, and others – was usually able to detect, isolate, andeliminate serious threats to network security in Ukraine.
However, in the course of our work, we also discovered another problem thatany enterprise today should seek to address: a fundamental lack of user understanding of cyber security. At every institution, therefore, we tried to carry out a malware‘literacy campaign’ to teach employees how infections begin and how attackers cansubsequently control their computers to steal documents, all via a tiny, unauthorised program that can be maddeningly difficult to find.

2

Case Study: Hacking a Presidential Election

The most sensational hacktivist attack took place during Ukraine’s presidential elections. On 21 May 2014, CyberBerkut compromised the Central Election Commission (CEC), disabling core CEC network nodes and numerous components of theelection system. For nearly 20 hours, the software, which was designed to display
real-time updates in the vote count, did not work properly. On 25 May – election
day – 12 minutes before the polls closed (19:48 EET), the attackers posted on the
CEC website a picture of Ukrainian Right Sector leader Dmitry Yarosh, incorrectly
claiming that he had won the election. This image was immediately shown on Russian TV channels.
It is important to note here that this attack could in no way have determined theoutcome of the election. In Ukraine, every citizen inks his or her vote on a real paper3

For background on this hacker group, see Wikipedia entry ‘CyberBerkut,’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CyberBerkut.

56

ballot, and all votes are manually verified. Each polling station in every corner of thecountry physically delivers its ballots to CEC headquarters in Kyiv for aggregation,
reconciliation, and determination of the final tally. CEC’s information technology(IT) infrastructure is a complex, geographically distributed system designed for
fault tolerance and transparency. Polling stations have an ‘anti-fraud’ design thatallows monitors to detect anomalies such as dramatically swinging vote counts andreport them to the appropriate authorities. Any serious disruption during an election would generate immediate suspicion about its legitimacy, and spark a desire fora new election.
That said, I believe that we should not underestimate the ability of hackers –especially those that enjoy state sponsorship – to disrupt the political process of anation. If CEC’s network had not been restored by 25 May, the country would simply have been unable to follow the vote count in real-time. However, to what extent
would that have caused citizens to question the integrity of the entire process? It is
hard to know.
CEC was not the only election-related site compromised. There were many others, including some that were only tangentially related to Ukrainian politics when,for example, the word ‘election’ had unfortunately appeared somewhere on the site.
But even when attacks against low-level sites were unsophisticated, and the sites
basically continued to function, the attackers still got the press attention they sought.
The technical aspects of this hack also
tell us something very important: theThe technical aspects of thishackers were professionals. Beyond dishack also tell us something
abling the site and successfully displaying incorrect election results, CERT-UA
very important: the hackers
discovered advanced cyber espionage
were professionals.
malware on the CEC network (Sofacy/
APT28/Sednit). These two aspects of theattack – disruption and espionage – may seem contradictory, but in fact they arequite complementary. Hackers must first conduct in-depth reconnaissance of a target prior to any serious attack.
To bolster its technical credentials as an elite hacker group, CyberBerkut claimed
to have discovered and exploited a ‘zero-day’ vulnerability in CEC’s Cisco ASA software. In my opinion, it is highly unlikely that a non-state hacker group would possess such a high level of technical expertise. If CyberBerkut really did exploit a zeroday, the group is likely supported by a nation-state.
During my tenure as chief of CERT-UA, the CEC compromise was probably themost technically advanced cyber attack we investigated. It was well planned, highly
targeted, and had some (albeit limited) real-world impact. Preparation for such an
attack does not happen overnight; based on our analysis of Internet Protocol (IP)
activity, the attackers began their reconnaissance in mid-March 2014 – more than
two months prior to the election. Neither does the level of required expertise sug-57

gest that this was the work of amateurs; at a minimum, the hackers had gained
administrator-level access to CEC’s network.

3

Conclusion: What Is to Be Done?

Ukraine today faces cyber security challenges on at least two fronts. First, there aretechnical attacks against a wide range of network infrastructure, including individual websites and whole Internet Service Providers (ISPs). These encompass everything from preoperational reconnaissance to social engineering against the target’s
employees. Second, there is an ongoing, content-driven information war within the
online media space designed to influence and deceive the public.
More serious threats lie over the horizon. In recent incident response activities
we have discovered samples of the most advanced forms of malware, includingBlackEnergy2/SandWorm, Potao, Turla/Urobros, and more.
In the face of these threats, Ukraine is currently unprepared. At the strategiclevel, our senior officials are preoccupied with more pressing concerns. At thetactical level, our law enforcement agencies still fail to grasp the basic connection
between email attachments, remote administrative software, and cyber espionage.
Today, there is no unified mechanism to monitor Ukraine’s network space, whichhinders our ability to detect cases of unauthorised access in a timely fashion.
It is time for the government of
Ukraineto pay greater attention to cyber
It is time for the governsecurity. Given our current national secument of Ukraine to payrity crisis, this will not be easy. However,attention to cyber security.
in spite of the challenging environment,
many positive developments are taking
place in Ukraine, such as the recent transformation of Kyiv’s metropolitan police
force.4 A similar breakthrough can take place in our cyber security domain, but
it must begin with the allocation of funds to hire and retain the right personnel
through competitive salaries and more attractive working conditions.

4

Laura Mills. ‘In Ukraine’s Capital, a New Show of Force,’ The Wall Street Journal, 6 August 2015, http://www.wsj.com/articles/
in-ukraines-capital-a-new-show-of-force-1438903782.

Chapter 7

Cyber Operations at Maidan:
A First-Hand Account
Glib Pakharenko
ISACA Kyiv

1

Introduction: Cyber Conflict in Ukraine

I would like to tell the story of what I experienced in Ukraine from the autumn of2013 until the end of 2014. In this chapter, I will describe the nature and impact ofnumerous cyber attacks that took place during our revolution and the subsequent
conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
As background, it is important to understand the strategic value of Ukraine to
Russia. Ukraine is the largest country in Europe, with over 42 million citizens and
27 administrative divisions. In the past, its rich farmland and industrial base havebeen coveted by Russia, Turkey, Poland, and even by Nazi Germany. Ukraine has
also made significant contributions in politics; the Ukrainian Cossacks createdthe first constitution in contemporary European history. Following the horrors ofWorld War II, the country continued to suffer under Soviet rule until it regained its
independence in 1991. Despite that, Russia has never really let go of Ukraine.
Ukraine has had internet connectivity since 1990. As everywhere else in theworld, it has also had its share of cyber attacks. The majority of these have comein the form of Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) incidents against politicallyor economically targeted websites. During election seasons, for example, hackers
have frequently gone after the websites of political parties. In terms of cyber crime,
Ukraine has long been home to carding, mobile operator fraud, spam factories,
cyberlockers, pirated software, unauthorized bank transfers, and various attacks onrival businesses.

59Responsibility for the enforcement of internet security in Ukraine belongs to the
Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVS) and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).1 Cyber
security regulations are overseen by the State Service of Special Communication andInformation Protection (SSSCIP),2 but the ultimate responsibility for cyber crimes has
never made explicit, and in this regard there has been competition between the MVS
and SBU. Ukraine’s Computer Emergency Response Team was created in 2007.
National cyber security legislation is still in its nascent stages. Many of our current laws date from the Soviet era, and need to be updated for the information age.
The national critical infrastructure domain is still largely unregulated. Definitions
related to ‘cyber security’ and ‘information security’ are unclear, as is the distinction
between them.
Historically, the Ukrainian police have investigated straightforward cases related
to illegal content, online gambling, and pornography. Their number of qualified
personnel trained in cyber security was low, with little competency in computer or
network forensics. Therefore, their most common tactic was simply to confiscate all
IT equipment.
Given these circumstances, Ukraine is currently ill-prepared to combat advanced,
nation-state level cyber attacks. In the future, its specialists would like to see thearrival of more non-governmental organisation (NGO) support from the European
Union and United States, with a view to implementing modern best practices andinternationally recognised standards.

2

The Impact of Euromaidan

The ‘Revolution of Dignity’ in Ukraine began in late 2013 when citizens took to thestreets to vent their fury at the decision of then-President Viktor Yanukovych not
to sign an agreement of political association with the European Union (EU). This
political movement became known as ‘Euromaidan’ – the Ukrainian word Maidan
means ‘square’ in English, and refers to the main square in the capital city, Kyiv.
On November 30, mobile phone communications were systematically shut down
through mobile operators, and armed police units physically attacked the protesters.
However, the population was undeterred, and by December 2, more than 500,000
people crowded into Maidan. The sitting government made several more attempts
to clear the city, using gas grenades and plastic bullets, and the author personally
suffered a long-term injury from exposure to tear gas. The crackdown eventually led
to the use of lethal force,3 likely killing well over 100 protestors.4
1
2
3
4

The SBU is a former constituent part to the Soviet KGB, and is still coming to terms with its legacy ideology and post-Soviet
corruption.
The SSSCIP was a former constituent part of SBU and has since had a conflicting relationship with its former parent over its
role in the information security arena.
The author believes that Russian Security Services took part in these killings.
‘List of people killed during Euromaidan’, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_killed_during_Euromaidan.

60

The cyber attacks began on 2 December 2013 when it was clear that protesters were not going to leave Maidan. Opposition websites were targeted by DDoS
attacks, the majority of which came from commercial botnets employing BlackEnergy and Dirt Jumper malware.
Police confiscated mobile phones to
The cyber attacks began on
acquire the protestors’ web, email,social media, and financial activities.
2 December 2013 when it was
In one case, pornographic images
clear that protesters were notwere uploaded to a protestor’s social
going to leave Maidan.
media account, and were later used toprosecute him. Police seized computers from the opposition party’s premises, and according to one city official, thelighting in city hall (which had been a base of opposition activity) was switched
off remotely, via the internet.
Opposition activists also conducted cyber attacks against the Ukrainian Government, using tools such as the Low Orbit Ion Cannon (LOIC) to launch DDoS
attacks on the President’s website. When one group of protestors entered the Ministry of Energy, the organisation sounded a ‘red alert’ at Ukrainian nuclear facilities,
due to the fact that the national electricity grid is remotely controlled via the internet from headquarters.
During this period of intense cyber attacks in Ukraine, cyber criminal organisations proactively reduced their use of the Ukrainian Internet Protocol (IP) space,rerouting their malware communications through Internet Service Providers (ISP)in Belarus and Cyprus, which meant that, for the first time in years, Ukraine was notlisted among the leading national purveyors of cyber crime.5
The largest and most sophisticated attacks coincided with the lethal shooting ofprotestors in Maidan (February 18-20, 2014). The mobile phones of opposition parliament members were flooded with SMS messaging and telephone calls in an effort
to prevent them from communicating and coordinating defences. One precisionattack (which targeted the protesters on only one street in Kyiv) entailed spamming
the IMSI catcher device on mobile phones with fake SMS messages, threatening therecipient with prosecution for participation in the protest.6
In western Ukraine, the Government turned off the main opposition TV channel, and when protesters decided to enter police departments, those facilities weredisconnected from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and internet.
Despite all of these police actions, the now-radicalised protesters were unbowed,
and continued their revolutionary campaign. Therefore, on February 22, 2014,
Ukrainian President Yanukovich fled to Russia, and a new and reformist government was established in Kyiv.
5
6

HostExploit analysis, http://hostexploit.com/.
This tactic has also been used by Russian military units in eastern Ukraine.

61

3

Crimea and Donbass

By the end of April 2014, the Russian Government had responded to these eventsby occupying and annexing the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, as well as militaryintervention in eastern Ukraine, where hostilities continue to this day.
From the start of its Crimean operation, the Russian army moved to gain control of the peninsula’s telecommunications infrastructure, severing cables and routing calls through Russian mobile operators. Ukrainian media companies lost their
physical assets in Crimea, and local television programming shifted from Ukrainian
to Russian channels. With physical access to its control infrastructure, Russia alsocommandeeredtheUkrainian
national satellite platform Lybid.
From the start of its Crimean
In Kyiv, as soon as the Russian
operation, the Russian army
military occupied Crimea, the internal security staff of one of Ukraine’s
moved to gain control of telemobile operators immedicommunications infrastructure. largest
ately demanded the severing of communications links between Ukraine
and the occupied territory. However, its pro-Russian management refused, andmaintained unrestricted connectivity as long as possible, likely so that Russian security services could retain access to its internal systems, for intelligence gathering andother information operations.
Ukrainian mobile operators saw an increase in the volume of cyber crime emanating from Crimea, and it is likely that Russian security services acquired intelligence from information collected in this way.
Pro-Russia media, discussion forums, and social network groups were active
in propaganda dissemination. The Crimea campaign was even buttressed by masschanges in Wikipedia, where Russian propaganda teams altered articles related tothe events taking place there.
Today in Crimea, Russian authorities have implemented content filtering forinternet access, including the censorship of Ukrainian news sites. In November
2014, Russia announced it would create a cyber warfare-specific military unit in
Crimea.
Pro-Ukrainian hackers have attacked Crimean websites during the occupation,such as that of the Crimean Parliament7 and a site linking to public web cameras.8
They have also released allegedly official Russian documents related to the conflict
which were claimed to be stolen from Russian government servers.9
As the conflict shifted to Donbass, cyberspace played an increasingly important role in military operations. Physical attacks destroyed cabling, broadcast infra7
8
9‘Vulnerabilities in www.rada.crimea.ua‘,12 March 2014, Websecurity http://websecurity.com.ua/7041/.
‘Ukrainian Cyber Army: video intelligence’, Websecurity April 23, 2015, http://websecurity.com.ua/7717/.
Aric Toler. ‘Russian Official Account of Attack on Ukraine Border Guards’, bellingcat, 30 May 2015 https://www.bellingcat.
com/news/uk-and-europe/2015/05/30/russian-official-account-of-attack-on-ukraine-border-guards/.

62

structure, and ATM networks, and this served to isolate the region from Ukrainian
media, communications, and financial services.10 Military operations were coordinated with propaganda disseminated on Russian TV channels and internet-based
media. Finally, the occupation army performs regular forensics checks on computers and mobile devices owned by the population in eastern Ukraine.
Russian signals intelligence (SIGINT), including cyber espionage, has allowed
for very effective combat operations planning against the Ukrainian army. Artillery fire can be adjusted based on
location data gleaned from mobile
Russian signals intelligencephones and Wi-Fi networks.11 GPS(SIGINT) has allowed for effecsignals can also be used to jam
aerial drones. Ukrainian mobile
tive combat operations against
traffic can be rerouted throughthe Ukrainian army.
Russian GSM infrastructure via a
GSM signalling level (SS7) attack;12in one case, this was accomplished through malicious VLR/HLR updates thatwere not properly filtered. Russian Security Services also use the internet torecruit mercenaries.
Generally speaking, the computer systems and mobile communications of
Ukrainian government, military, and critical infrastructure are under permanent
attack, and their communications are routinely intercepted and analysed for information of intelligence value. There are also many attacks on Ukrainian businesses:
examples include the Ukrainian Railway Company, Kievstar mobile operator,13 a
SMART-TV retail shop,14 and a city billboard.15

4

Cyber Tactics

Cyberspace is a complex domain. In the Ukraine conflict, we have seen many different types of actors, tools, and tactics. Hacktivists have used the Low Orbit Ion
Cannon; criminals have used malware like Blackenergy and DirtJumper. But withcyber attacks, attribution and motive are not always clear, and the level of deception is high. The pro-Russia hacker groups Cyberberkut and Cyber-riot Novorissia have conducted DDoS attacks and released stolen email and office documentsfrom Ukrainian officials. Russian media, parliament members, and pro-Russian
10
11
12
13
14
15

Some attacks against telecom infrastructure took place in Kyiv as well.
‘In the area of ATO proposes to ban military use mobile phones’, Голос України, 12 May 2015 http://golosukraine.com/publication/zakonoproekti/parent/41516-u-zoni-ato-proponuyut-zaboroniti-vijskovim-koristu/#.VYbMdnWlyko.
‘How the Russians attacked Ukrainian mobile operators’, Delo.ua, 26 May 2014, http://delo.ua/tech/kak-rossijane-atakovali-ukrainskih-mobilnyh-operatorov-237125/.
Kyivstar is owned and controlled by Russian business, so this attack may be from a non-Russian actor.
The TV’s firmware was compromised, after which the TV began to display channels from of pro-Russian, separatist eastern
Ukraine.
The billboard then displayed pro-Russian messages.

63

Ukrainian politicians often mention these groups by name, but true attribution isdifficult. For example, spam is used to deliver news about their operations.16
For DDoS, various types of network flooding have been used against web andDNS servers from spoofed source IPs.17 Sometimes, the attacks overwhelmed internet channel bandwidth; at other times, they affected the capability of an internet
router to process packets. The offending
bots were located all over the world, but
DDoS attacks lasted up to
Ukrainian ISPs began to filter trafweeks at a time, which had whenfic based on national IP ranges, the point
never been seen before.
of attack simply shifted to Ukrainian bots,
which served to defeat this protection
measure. During the revolution in Ukraine, DDoS attacks lasted up to weeks at atime, which had never been seen before. Cloud DDoS protection services provided
some relief, but the attackers could usually find some worthwhile computer to shut
down, such as when they blocked updates to an online media portal.
Over time, computer security companies have improved their ability to placemalware into ‘families’ and attacks into ‘campaigns’. To some degree, this helps toprovide attribution, especially when some sophisticated, persistent campaigns canonly be the work of nation-state actors – for reasons of mission focus, cost, and theoverall level of operational effort required.
Researchers believe, for example, that the Ouroboros/Snake malware family,
which avoided detection for 8 years and actively targeted the Ukrainian Government, has Russian origins.18 With enough data, it is possible to see large cyber espionage campaigns that encompass many different types of targets; it is also possible
to see that they generally work within a particular time zone, such as Moscow.19
One possible Russia-based campaign against Ukraine (and other nations), called
Sandworm, exploits advanced ‘zero-day’ vulnerabilities and targets national criticalinfrastructure.20 Finally, in ‘Operation Armageddon’, researchers believe that theytied malware activity to ongoing Russian military operations in Ukraine.21

16
17
18
19
20
21

Even the pro-Russian NGO ‘Mothers of Soldiers,’ which fights the mobilization efforts of the Ukrainian army, uses spam to
distribute information.
The breadth of the attacks included IPv6->IPv4 to bypass DDoS filters, NTP amplification, slow HTTP POST packets against
vulnerable Apache servers, DAVOSET, and SSL renegotiation against misconfigured web servers. The maximum volume I amaware of was <30 Gbt/s.
David E. Sanger and Steven Erlangermarch, ‘Suspicion Falls on Russia as ‘Snake’ Cyberattacks Target Ukraine’s Government’,
New York Times, 8 March 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/09/world/europe/suspicion-falls-on-russia-as-snake-cyberattacks-target-ukraines-government.html?_r=0.
‘APT28: A Window into Russia’s Cyber Espionage Operations?’ FireEye, 27 October 2014, https://www.fireeye.com/blog/
threat-research/2014/10/apt28-a-window-into-russias-cyber-espionage-operations.html.
Stephen Ward. ‘iSIGHT discovers zero-day vulnerability CVE-2014-4114 used in Russian cyber-espionage campaign’, iSIGHT
Partners, 14 October, 2014, http://www.isightpartners.com/2014/10/cve-2014-4114/.
Robert Hackett. ‘Russian cyberwar advances military interests in Ukraine, report says’ Fortune, 29 April 2015, http://fortune.
com/2015/04/29/russian-cyberwar-ukraine/.

64

5Conclusion and Recommendations

Ukraine is vulnerable to Russia, both in traditional geopolitical space and in cyberspace. In 2015, Ukrainians are still dependent on Russian web resources, including
social media (Vkontakte), email (Mail.ru), search engines (Yandex), antivirus software (Kaspersky), and much more. Our IT supply chain acquires hardware that iseither produced in Russia or travels through Russia – this creates vulnerabilities outof the box, and facilitates future attacks.
Whereas Russia is a world leader in cyber espionage and attack, Ukraine’s security services are new and inexperienced. In the current conflict with Russia, the only
option available to Ukraine is simply a self-inflicted denial-of-service: block accessto pro-Russian sites, remove access to Russian TV channels, limit the use of Russian
hardware and software, ban mobile phone and social network usage for Ukrainiansoldiers, and sever network access with occupied eastern Ukraine.
In the future, Ukraine must modernise its cyber security legislation. One criticalaspect of that process will be transparency: it must publish proposed and new laws
on government websites so that they are easy to read and understand. In the past,even the few websites available were often knocked offline by hackers.
There have been many lessons learned. Here are some of the author’s personal
recommendations to the Ukrainian Government:• Clear Ukrainian IP space of botnets and misconfigured servers (NTP,
DNS, etc.) that facilitate cyber attacks;• Remove illegal and pirated software from critical infrastructure andpublic agencies;• Reduce Ukraine’s IT dependency in the context of crisis scenarios;• Implement continuity standards for media and telecoms in conflictzones;• Create mechanisms to reliably deliver messages from the government
to its citizens in occupied territories;• Incorporate anti-DDoS solutions into Internet-facing services;• Ensure multiple, independent routes for internet traffic between
Ukraine and the rest of the world;• Implement effective filtering mechanisms on national traffic exchange
points;• Develop a culture of continuous cyber attack monitoring, investigation, information sharing, and research;• Develop strong cyber security and cryptography capabilities across
Ukraine;• Implement effective civil society controls over unauthorised interception and collection of data;• Improve emergency data erasure and disaster recovery capabilities;65• Provide resources to military and security services to effectively conduct large-scale cyber operations and computer forensics during their
missions; and• Ensure supply chain security for IT services coming from Russia.
Finally, the world should not underestimate Russia, which is seeking to re-establish its former empire, to include Ukraine and other parts of the defunct Soviet
Union and Warsaw Pact. In the context of its wide-ranging political and military
campaigns, Russia has developed a cyber attack capability that can target national
critical infrastructures, via the internet, anywhere in the world.

Chapter 8

Beyond ‘Cyber War’: Russia’s
Use of Strategic Cyber
Espionage and Information
Operations in Ukraine
Jen Weedon
FireEye1

Introduction‘Cyber attacks’ and ‘cyber war’ are all too often characterised as independent phenomena limited to the cyber domain, somehow distinct from the broader dynamics
that define a conflict. An analysis of cyber conflict thus far suggests that such a perceived dichotomy is both inaccurate and unwise. Targeted internet-based assaults
cannot be divorced from their underlying geopolitical contexts, and there is small
likelihood that a ‘cyber war’ will ever take place that is limited only to the cyberdomain. On the contrary, governments have been shown to use cyber tools andtactics as a broad instrument of statecraft, a tool for coercion, and a complement tokinetic forces in conflict scenarios.
Moscow’s strategy in Ukraine has included
Moscow’s strategy ina substantial investment in espionage andUkraine has included a
information operations, relying on the successsubstantial investment inof integrated cyber operations and computer
network exploitation in particular. Russian
information operations.
cyber activities have included cyber espionage, ‘prepping the battlefield’, selective telegraphing of capabilities, and some hints
at destructive activity. Together, these operations have no doubt inexorably contributed to Moscow’s advantages over Kyiv, both on the ground and in shaping the con-67

flict’s narrative in the public arena. This orchestration should come as no surprise
to Russian security analysts, as such an integrated approach is consistent with published Russian military doctrine. Russian strategic thinkers do not consider ‘cyberwar’ (or even the prefix ‘cyber’) as a distinct concept. Rather, computer network
operations are tools to be integrated into broader efforts to maintain political andmilitary dominance in a given theatre and, more broadly, in the domestic and global
courts of public opinion.
This chapter will ground strategic thinking on cyber conflict against the systematic cyber espionage that we believe Russia is leveraging in its conflict with Ukraine.
Rather than a ‘cyber war’ waged in a distinct networked domain, Russia’s strategy
has been to masterfully exploit the information gleaned from its worldwide computer network exploitation campaigns to inform its conduct, purposely distort public opinion, and maintain its dominant position in Ukraine.
The author will examine three types of interrelated Russian cyber operations
from a technical and targeting perspective:
1. Computer network exploitation (CNE) to gain a decisive information
advantage;
2. ‘Prepping the battlefield’ via denial and deception; and3. Limited incidents of cyber disruption and destruction.

2

The Architecture and Artistry of
Russia’s Strategic Information Theft

Since the start of the Ukraine conflict, security companies have been increasingly
tracking, cataloguing, and exposing sustained Russian CNE campaigns. Overall
these Russian cyber threat groups have consistently focused on clandestinely stealing intelligence, most likely to give the Russian Government a strategic advantage.
The targets of these operations have repeatedly included Ukrainian, European, andU.S. government targets, militaries, international and regional defence and political organisations, think tanks, media outlets, and dissidents. While it is difficult toassess with certainty whether these cyber threat groups are directly tasked or supported by Moscow, there is a growing body of evidence indicating these cyber actors
are Russia-based, and that their activities highly likely benefit Moscow.
The security community’s ability to detect, track, and ultimately expose Russian
cyber operations seems to have improved since the Ukraine conflict began, even relative to overall trends in the industry on exposing threat activity. While determining
a direct causation between the conflict in Ukraine and a seemingly marked uptick inobservable Russian cyber activity is challenging, the timing is certainly notable. It is
exceedingly unlikely that Russian actors only just started conducting aggressive CNE

68

on a global scale, so why has our ability to track and expose their activity appear tohave improved? One reason may be that Russia’s current national security crisis has
increased its government’s collections requirements to state-supported hackers, which
has in turn accelerated the groups’ operational tempo. As a result, it may be more difficult for these actors to modify their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) on atimely basis, which often results in them tipping their hand.
To shed light on how this sustained information theft is being carried out, thefollowing sections discuss some of the cyber tactics and compromised computer
infrastructure that FireEye has associated with two prominent hacker groups that
we believe operate from Russia, as well as a summary list of CNE-related activity
that is likely being used to give Moscow a geopolitical and military advantage.

3

APT29 (‘Advanced Persistent Threat’1 Group 29)

APT29 is a sophisticated and highly capable
APT29 is a highly capaRussian cyber espionage group with a diverse,
ble Russian cyber espioconstantly evolving toolset, and talented opernage group with a conators. The group maintains a globally dispersed
and intricate attack infrastructure that doubtstantly evolving toolset.
less requires substantial resources to maintain.
APT29’s tools often leverage legitimate web services for malware command andcontrol mechanisms, which can make them more difficult to detect because they
appear to be benign communications at first glance.
3.1 APT29’s Targets: Consistent with Russian State Interests
APT29 typically targets entities to steal information that is closely linked to Russian geopolitical interests and priorities. The group’s recent operations suggest it
is particularly focused on targets of intelligence value that are related to the Russia-Ukraine crisis and related policy responses. This includes: western governments(particularly foreign policy and defence-related targets); international security andlegal institutions; think tanks; and educational institutions.
APT29 usually compromises its victims via socially engineered spear phishingemails– either with malicious email attachments, or through a link to download amalicious file from a compromised website. The group’s decoy documents (‘lures’)
often topically align with their targets’ interests and work subject matter; this social
engineering technique is common and can be very effective. APT29 has also been
known to re-purpose and weaponise legitimate documents or information stolen
from its previously compromised networks. Example lure topics from legitimate
sources include content related to European Union sanctions on Russia, a voicemail
1

We refer to groups that we assess have a nexus to state sponsorship as ‘Advanced Persistent Threat,’ or ‘APT’ groups.

69

attachment sent from a reporter to a think tank scholar who writes on Russia-Ukraine
issues,2 a PDF report on terrorism, and discussions related to Caucasus regional
development and democratisation.3 APT29 has also used less tailored and pop culture-themed approaches, such as a faked e-fax, and videos of ‘Office Monkeys’.45
3.2 APT29’s Tools and Infrastructure: the Work of Professionals
The complex nature of APT29’s malware and infrastructure (requiring significant
financial resources and expertise for upkeep), combined with its operational security practices and target sets strongly suggests some level of Russian state sponsorship. Its typical work hours (as defined by active operations in networks the grouphas compromised) fall within the UTC+3 time zone, which aligns to the time zonesof Moscow and St. Petersburg. Furthermore, APT29 has been known to temporarily
halt its operations on Russian holidays.6
APT29 has been highly active throughout 2015, employing new data theft tools
as well as pursuing new targets for stealing information. To maintain operational
security, APT29 often configures its malware to activate only at predetermined
times, and is adept at using misdirection and obfuscation TTPs7 that hinder reverse
engineering and other means of analysis. One complicated APT29 backdoor, HAMMERTOSS, is highly capable of evading detection, particularly by its ability to mimic
the behaviour of legitimate users.8 HAMMERTOSS accomplishes this stealthinessby leveraging commonly visited websites and web services to relay commands andsteal data from victims. The tool works by:• Checking in and retrieving commands via legitimate web services,such as Twitter and GitHub;• Using compromised web servers for command and control (C2);• Visiting different Twitter handles daily and automatically;• Using timed starts, such as communicating only after a specific date or
only during the victim’s workweek;• Obtaining commands via images containing hidden and encrypted
data (steganography); and• Extracting information from a compromised network by uploading
files to commonly used cloud storage services.9
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

‘The Connections Between MiniDuke, CosmicDuke and OnionDuke.’ January 7, 2015. F-Secure. https://www.f-secure.com/
weblog/archives/00002780.html.
Graham Cluley. ‘MiniDionis: Where a Voicemail Can Lead to a Malware Attack.’ July 16, 2015. http://www.tripwire.com/
state-of-security/security-data-protection/cyber-security/minidionis-voicemail-malware/.
Ibid.
Sergey Lozhkin. ‘Minidionis – one more APT with a usage of cloud drives.’ Kaspersky Lab. July 16, 2015. https://securelist.com/
blog/research/71443/minidionis-one-more-apt-with-a-usage-of-cloud-drives/.
FireEye Threat Intelligence, HAMMERTOSS: Stealthy Tactics Define a Russian Cyber Threat Group,’ July 29, 2015. https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2015/07/hammertoss_stealthy.html.
Kurt Baumgartner and Costin Raiu. ‘The CozyDuke APT.‘ Securelist. April 21, 2015. https://securelist.com/blog/research/69731/the-cozyduke-apt/.
Ibid.
Ibid.

70

APT29 appears to deploy this advanced
Malware needs not only
malware only against high-value networks
to steal information but towhere it needs not only to steal informamaintain persistent access totion but also to maintain persistent accessthe victim’s environment.
to the victim’s environment. In addition,
APT29 possesses other advanced, stealthy
tools in its toolbox (which include the ‘Dukes’ malware10), and the group is constantly evolving its ‘weaponry’.

4

APT28 (also known as Tsar Team/Sofacy/Pawn Storm)

APT28 is another Russian cyber espionage group that frequently targets European
security organisations, Eastern European governments and militaries, international
media outlets, think tanks, defence companies, domestic dissident populations, andentities in the Caucasus. This list is not exhaustive.11 The following table summarises
some of what currently know about APT28.12
Like APT29, APT28 works in a highly professional manner worthy of its‘advanced persistent threat’ moniker. Security researchers believe its malware is
written in a Russian language development environment, and that it has been systematically updating its tools, some of which are also able to target mobile devices13
since 2007.
One way to appreciate the sophisticated nature of APT28 is through its exploitation of ‘zero-day’ vulnerabilities; that is, previously undiscovered and unpatchedvulnerabilities. For example, in early 2015, APT28 likely exploited two zero-day vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash and Microsoft Windows in an attack against a government contractor.14 In a separate incident in July 2015, APT28 rapidly integrated into
its operations multiple zero-day vulnerabilities exposed in the highly public breachof the Italian exploit dealer Hacking Team.15

10

11
12
13
14
15

‘Duke APT group’s latest tools: cloud services and Linux support.’ July 22, 2015. F-Secure. https://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00002822.html; Kurt Baumgartner, Costin Raiu. ‘The CozyDuke APT.’ Kaspersky Lab. April 21, 2015. https://securelist.com/blog/69731/the-cozyduke-apt/; Brandon Levene, Robert Falcone and Richard Wartell. ‘Tracking MiniDionis:
CozyCar’s New Ride Is Related to Seaduke.’ Palo Alto Networks. July 14, 2015.
‘APT28: A Window into Russia’s Cyber Espionage Operations?’ FireEye Blog.October 27, 2014. https://www.fireeye.com/blog/
threat-research/2014/10/apt28-a-window-into-russias-cyber-espionage-operations.html.
Ibid.
Dune Lawrence and Michael Riley. ‘Hackers Target Hong Kong Protesters via iPhones.’ Bloomberg Business. October 1, 2014.
http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-10-01/hackers-target-hong-kong-protesters-via-iphones.
FireEye Labs. ‘Operation RussianDoll: Adobe & Windows Zero-Day Exploits Likely Leveraged by Russia’s APT28 in Highly-Targeted Attack.’ April 18, 2015. https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2015/04/probable_apt28_useo.html.
Jonathan Leathery. ‘Microsoft Office Zero-Day CVE-2015-2424 Leveraged By Tsar Team..’ iSight Partners. July 15, 2015. http://
www.isightpartners.com/2015/07/microsoft-office-zero-day-cve-2015-2424-leveraged-by-tsar-team/.

71

Malware

TargetingRussian Attributes

Evolves and Maintains
Tools for Continued,
Long-Term Use• Uses malware with flexible
and lasting platforms• Constantly evolves malware
samples for continued use• Malware is tailored to specificvictims’ environments, and isdesigned to hamper reverse
engineering efforts• Developed in a formal codedevelopment environment

Georgia & the Caucasus• Ministry of Internal Affairs• Ministry of Defence• Journalist writing on Caucasus issues• Kavkaz Center

Russian Language
Indicators• Consistent use of Russian
malware over a period of six
years• Lure to journalist writing on
Caucasus issues suggests
APT28 understands both
Russian and English

Various Data Theft
Techniques• Backdoors using HTTP protocol• Backdoors using victim mailserver• Local copying to defeat
closed/air gapped networks

Eastern European
Governments & Militaries• Polish Government• Hungarian Government• Ministry of Foreign Affairs inEastern Europe• Baltic Host exercises
Security-relatedorganisations• NATO• OSCE• Defense attaches• Defense events and exhibitions

Malware Compile Times Correspond to Work Day
in Moscow’s Time Zone
• Consistent among APT28
samples with compile times
from 2007 to 2014
• The compile times align withthe standards workday in
the UTC +4 time zone, which
includes major Russian cities
such as Moscow and St.
Petersburg

Figure 1‑1 – APT28 Activities

5

A Crowded Playing Field:
Additional Examples of Russian CNE

Numerous cyber security companies have characterised a range of suspected
Russian state-sponsored cyber activity and malware. Overall, there are recurring
themes in their findings, which suggeststhat Russian CNE campaigns are based
Russian CNE campaigns areon consistent taskings. Multiple cyberbased on consistent taskings.
espionage campaigns ongoing across theglobe since at least 2007 (and no doubt
much earlier) has probably given these actors a considerable information advantage. A few examples are as follows.
In September 2015, Kaspersky Labs published research exposing multiple Russian APT groups ‘using and abusing’ satellite-based internet links (particularly
IP addresses in Middle Eastern and African countries) to hide their operationalcommand and control. This infrastructure likely enables a high degree of operational security. One of the groups using this tactic is the same group behind
the Snake/Uroburos/Turla malware, thought to be related to the infamous Agent.
BTZ, which was used to penetrate U.S. military networks as early as 2008. Kaspersky’s report outlined a specific campaign targeting government, embassies, mili72

tary entities, universities, research organisations, and pharmaceutical companies
worldwide.16
In August 2015, a group of security researchers described the enterprise-likeeffort behind the Gameover ZeuS malware and its prolific and FBI-sought author
Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev (a.k.a. ‘Slavik’). The malware was used to facilitate
both cyber crime and espionage. Further, the researchers discovered commands inthe malware indicating that the actors sought to gather classified information fromvictims in Ukraine, Georgia, and Turkey,17 suggesting a link between Russia’s cybercrime syndicates and government espionage actors.
In late 2014, researchers exposed a long-active Russian group called ‘Sandworm,’
whose victims included NATO, the Ukrainian Government, EU governments,
energy and telecommunications firms, and an American academic organisation.
The group used zero-day exploits and infected victims through a variety of means
including malicious PowerPoint attachments and the BlackEnergy toolkit.18
Between 2013 and 2014, actors using the Snake/Uroburos/Turla malware targeted Ukrainian computer systems in dozens of cyber operations launched by ‘committed and well-funded professionals’.19 This malware is highly complex, reistant tocountermeasures, and thought to have been created in 2005.20
Since 2013, ‘Operation Armageddon’ – a Russian cyber espionage campaign
allegedly targeting Ukrainian government, law enforcement, and military officials– has likely helped provide a military advantage to Russia vis-à-vis Ukraine fromsecrets systematically gathered from cyber espionage. 21
In 2012, suspected Russian actors reportedly used the Wipbot and Snake backdoors
for long-term cyber espionage. The actors leveraged legitimate (but compromised) websites to systematically deliver malware, particularly to victims in Eastern Europe.22

6Prepping the Battlefield

The cyber espionage activity previously described entails the penetration andexploitation of networks in order to steal sensitive information. However it isimportant to note that the network access required for CNE can, depending on
16
17
18
19
20
21
22

Stefan Stanase. ‘Satellite Turla: APT Command and Control in the Sky.’ Securelist Blog. September 9, 2015. https://securelist.
com/blog/research/72081/satellite-turla-apt-command-and-control-in-the-sky/.
Michael Sandee. ‘GameOver Zeus. Backgrounds on the Badguys and the Backends.’FoxIT Whitepaper. https://www.fox-it.com/
en/files/2015/08/FoxIT-Whitepaper_Blackhat-web.pdf.
‘iSIGHT discovers zero-day vulnerability CVE-2014-4114 used in Russian cyber-espionage campaign.’ iSight Partners, October 14, 2014. http://www.isightpartners.com/2014/10/cve-2014-4114/.
‘The Snake Campaign.’ BAE Systems. 2014.www.baesystems.com/ai/snakemalware.
‘Ukraine attacked by cyberspies as tensions escalated in recent months.’ Associated Press. March 9, 2014. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/09/ukraine-attacked-cyberspies-tensions-computer.
Lookingglass. ‘Operation Armageddon: Cyber Espionage as a Strategic Component of Russian Modern Warfare – CTIG Report.’ April 28, 2015. https://lgscout.com/operation-armageddon-cyber-espionage-as-a-strategic-component-of-russian-modern-warfare-ctig-report/.
Symantec Security Response. ‘Turla: Spying tool targets governments and diplomats.’ August 7, 2014. http://www.symantec.com/
connect/blogs/turla-spying-tool-targets-governments-and-diplomats.

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the intent of the attacker, also be used for disruptive or destructive CNA, including
what military professionals call ‘preparation of the battlefield’ for potential conflict
scenarios. 23,24 The cyber backdoors used to access environments illicitly or lay low
and maintain persistence could also be used to enable future attacks.
Extensive preparation of the battlefield is consistent with Russian strategic
thinking. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union developed highly detailed mapsof U.S. and European cities – all the way
down to individual buildings, terrain,
Extensive preparation of theand weather. This information would
battlefield is consistent withbe invaluable in the event of invasion
Russian strategic thinking.
or occupation, as in Crimea.25 Russian‘mapping’ of an adversary’s cyber infrastructure is in principle the same concept. Computer networks, however, are harder
to map: like living organisms, they constantly evolve. Therefore, today’s map might
not be good tomorrow, which is why Russian malware implants like HAMMERTOSS are designed to sustain clandestine access.
6.1 Preparing for Attack?
Is Russia preparing for future cyber attacks on Western critical infrastructure? Thisis difficult to prove, but the Sandworm group has reportedly targeted supervisory
control and data acquisition (SCADA) equipment, which is used in industrial andcritical infrastructure settings, with the BlackEnergy toolkit.26 The victims were production systems, not vendor-owned prototypes or systems that contained financial
information, intellectual property, or political intelligence. Given the targets seemed
to be production systems, there would likely be no benefit from an espionage perspective to infect these systems. Rather, the actors using the malware may have been
looking for weaknesses to exploit in a future disruptive scenario. In addition, theuse of a crimeware toolkit offers a degree of anonymity or plausible deniability for
actors with more destructive purposes.

23
24
25
26

Jen Weedon and Jacqueline Stokes. ‘Security in an Era of Coercive Attacks.’ FireEye Executive Perspectives Blog. May 14, 2015.
https://www.fireeye.com/blog/executive-perspective/2015/05/security_in_an_erao.html.
In the U.S., CNE and CNA may be carried out by different government agencies operating under different authorities, but not
all countries will have this same dichotomy.
Nick Ballon. ‘Inside the Secret World of Russia’s Cold War Maps.’ Wired. http://www.wired.com/2015/07/secret-cold-war-maps/
Kyle Wilhoit and Jim Gogolinski. ‘Sandworm to Blacken: The SCADA Connection.’ October 16, 2014. http://blog.trendmicro.
com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/sandworm-to-blacken-the-scada-connection/.

74

7

Deception and Telegraphing Intent:
APT28 and TV5Monde

Russia has a long history of using information operations and deception to create
confusion or sow panic to ultimately create favourable conditions for their activity.27
This tactic has simply evolved for the internet era to include online misinformation campaigns and propaganda, and extensive internet trolling. One of the more
remarkable incidents this year included APT28’s possible use of false flag operation
against a French TV station.
In April 2015, hackers claiming to be the Islamic State-affiliated ‘Cyber Caliphate’ hacked France’s TV5 Monde channel, shutting off transmissions for eighteen
hours, and posting Islamic State propaganda on the TV5 Monde’s Facebook andTwitter accounts. The attack also apparently resulted in significant damage to thechannel’s broadcasting infrastructure.28
This incident generated enormous publicity and speculation over Cyber Caliphate’s apparently growing capabilities and intent. However, technical analysis of theattackers’ network infrastructure (such as the IP block hosting the Cyber Caliphate’s
website, its server, and registrar)29 as well as some other sensitive source reporting
related to the malware used suggests that Russia’s APT28 was in fact the more likely
perpetrator of this attack. French Police concurred with this conclusion, stating‘Russian hackers linked to the Kremlin’ may have been responsible’.30 In a similarvein, The New York Times reported that a Russian organisation known as the ‘Internet Research Agency’ had conducted systematic online trolling and hoaxes in the
U.S., including a spoofed Islamic State attack against a Louisiana chemical plant on
the anniversary of 9/11.31
If APT28 (or another Russian hacker group) conducted these attacks, what were
their motivations? There are a number of plausible scenarios, including:• Russian actors may have been displeased at TV5 Monde coverage of
the Ukraine conflict, and this was an act of retribution;• Russian actors wanted to distract attention from the Kremlin’s actions
in Ukraine by shifting the focus of Western national security planners
to the Islamic State;
27
28
29

30
31

Roland Heickerö. ‘Emergin Cyber Threats and Russian Views on Information Warfare and Information Operations.’ FOI,
Swedish Defence Research Agency. March 2010. http://www.foi.se/ReportFiles/foir_2970.pdf.
Cale Guthrie Weissman. ‘France: Russian hackers posed as ISIS to hack a French TV broadcaster.’ Business Insider. June 11,2015. http://www.businessinsider.com/new-discovery-indicates-that-russian-hackers-apt28-are-behind-the-tv5-mondehack-2015-6.
Sheera Frankel. ‘Experts Say Russians May Have Posed As ISIS To Hack French TV Channel.’ Buzzfeed. June 9, 2015. http://
www.buzzfeed.com/sheerafrenkel/experts-say-russians-may-have-posed-as-isis-to-hack-french-t#.wg4BeJ6xDP ; Eamon
Javers. ‘These cyberhackers may not be backed by ISIS.’ CNBC. July 14, 2015. http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/14/these-cyberhackers-not-backed-by-isis.html.
Joseph Menn and Leigh Thomas. ‘France probes Russian lead in TV5Monde hacking: sources’. Reuters. June 10, 2015. http://
www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/10/us-france-russia-cybercrime-idUSKBN0OQ2GG20150610.
Adrian Chen. ‘The Agency.’ New York Times. June 2, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/magazine/the-agency.html?_
r=0.

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• Russian actors actively sought exposure as the perpetrators, and by
doing so, telegraph that they were both willing and capable of pulling
off such a scheme, while refining their ability to disrupt and destroy
digital media broadcasting capabilities.

8‘Cyber War’ in Ukraine – Not Much to See Here

There have been significant cyber espionage operations directed against victims
related to Russia’s strategic interests, particularly in regards to the situation in
Ukraine. However we have not seen high profile, coercive and damaging attacks
similar to those waged on Estonia in 2007 or Georgia in 2008.
The publicly reported examples of
CNA
in Ukraine mostly include Denial
We have not seen coercive
and damaging attacks simi- of Service (DoS) and Distributed Denialof Service (DDoS) attacks designed tolar to Estonia or Georgia.
undermine Ukraine’s telecommunications
infrastructure. For the attackers, thesewere likely a low-risk way to disrupt the flow of information within the Ukrainian
national security space, as well as a way to selectively and temporarily silence specific voices online. Some of the known incidents are listed below:• November 2013: Russian hackers reportedly defaced and DDoS’ed thewebsites of several Ukrainian TV stations, news outlets, and politicians.32• February 2014: Russian troops allegedly tampered with Ukraine’s fibre
optic cables and raided Ukrtelecom, which stated that it had ‘lost thetechnical capacity to provide connection between the peninsula andthe rest of Ukraine and probably across the peninsula, too’.33 In Crimea,
mobile, landline, and internet access were all affected.
• March 2014: As Russian troops entered Crimea, the main Ukrainian
Government website was shut down for nearly 72 hours,34 many otherofficial government and media websites were targeted in DDoS attacks,35
and the cell phones of many Ukrainian parliamentarians were ‘hacked’.36
32
33
34
35
36

‘Hromadske.tv under DDoS-attack.’ Institute of Mass Information. November 26, 2013. http://imi.org.ua/en/news/42266-hromadsketv-under-ddos-attack.html.
‘Ukrtelecom’s Crimean sub-branches officially report that unknown people have seized several telecommunications nodes in
the Crimea.’ February 28, 2014. http://en.ukrtelecom.ua/about/news?id=120467.
‘Ukraine says communications hit, MPs phones blocked.’ Reuters. March 4, 2014. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/04/
ukraine-crisis-cybersecurity-idUSL6N0M12CF20140304.
Cornelius Rahn, Ilya Khrennikov and Aaron Eglitis. ‘Russia-Ukraine Standoff Going Online as Hackers Attack.’ Bloomberg.
March 6, 2014. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-03-05/russia-ukraine-standoff-going-online-as-hackers-attack.
Peter Bergen and Tim Maurer. ‘Cyberwar hits Ukraine.’ CNN. March 7, 2014. http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/07/opinion/bergen-ukraine-cyber-attacks/.

76• May 2014: the pro-Russian hacktivist group CyberBerkut claimed
responsibility for a breach of the systems of Ukraine’s Central Election Commission with malware that would have deleted the results ofthe presidential election. However, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU)
removed the malware and replaced the election software prior to thevote.37
Outside of these limited publicly reported incidents, it appears that the Kremlin
has either not needed or not chosen to engage in extensive overt CNA during thisconflict. One reason for this could be that Moscow wants to avoid the international
criticism that followed its alleged cyber operations in the 2008 war in Georgia, andin Estonia in 2007. Instead, Moscow seems to be using more narrowly focused, limited operations in support of strategic state objectives, primarily via sustained cyberespionage rather than widespread attacks.

9

Information War, Not Cyber War

In the Russia-Ukraine conflict, computer network operations have not been limited
to trite notions of ‘cyber war.’ Rather, an examination of the sustained tensions suggests that this has been a war waged with and by the strategic theft and manipulationof information, and not extensive application of destructive cyber attacks. Russia’s
unrelenting cyber espionage campaigns over time, and against so many targets, haveno doubt given it a considerable advantage
in understanding, anticipating, and in someThis has been a war waged
instances outmanoeuvring its enemies. This
with and by the strategic
approach may have rendered DDoS andother destructive attacks less necessary ortheft and manipulation ofpreferable.
information.
While we do not always have definitive
attribution, the malicious cyber tools andattacker infrastructure used by these suspected Russian government-backed actors
in many ways mimic what we would expect from Russian intelligence operatives,
defined by stealth, artistry in tradecraft, and a high regard for operational security.
Yet, as mirrored in Russia’s real-life politics, some of the actors also appeared flippant and even brazen at times, characteristics that could reflect an absence of fearof getting caught or any sense of effective deterrence. In this sense, such behaviour
will no doubt continue, and it remains of the utmost important to anticipate anddefend against this activity, both for short-term network security and for long-term
international stability.
37 ‘‘Cyber-attack’ cripples Ukraine’s electronic election system ahead of presidential vote.’ RT. May 24, 2014.
http://rt.com/news/161332-ukraine-president-election-virus/.

Chapter 9

Cyber Proxies andthe Crisis in Ukraine
Tim Maurer
New America

1Introduction

In July 2015, I travelled to Kyiv to investigate the role of cyber proxy actors as partof a long-term, global research project on the issue. The Ukrainian crisis seemed
like the perfect case study to explore how states use non-state actors and their capabilities. The findings confirmed some of my assumptions but also revealed somesurprises. This article outlines what I learned during the trip based on interviews
with 11 individuals including current and former government officials, private sector representatives, security researchers, and Eugene Dokukin, the ‘commander’ of
the Ukrainian Cyber Forces, in addition to a review of existing literature.1
To start, the crisis in Ukraine has several ingredients that appear to make the useof proxies by a state likely, namely (1) an ongoing hot conflict, fuelling (2) incentives
for the state to use proxy capabilities and (3) significant capabilities residing outsideof but available to the state. With regard to the second, this includes the generalpolitical incentive to be able to claim plausible deniability as well as incentives forthe state to augment its own capabilities by adding those provided by non-state
actors.
It is also helpful to distinguish between two dimensions when analysing proxyactors to ensure greater analytical clarity. First, analysing proxy actors is part of thebroader academic inquiry into the governance of violence best described by the title
1‘Cyber warrior steps up effort to help in war with Russia,’ KyivPost, February 10, 2015, http://www.kyivpost.com/content/kyivpost-plus/cyber-warrior-steps-up-effort-to-help-in-war-with-russia-380184.html?flavour=mobile.

79

of Deborah Avant’s seminal book The Market for Force – The Consequences of Privatizing Security. In that book, Avant investigates the market for force and the role ofpublic and private actors including proxies.2 The second, narrower dimension focuseson proxy actors used ‘to commit internationally wrongful acts using ICTs’.3 This is
the language used in the most recent report of the Group of Governmental Experts(GGE) that is leading the international community’s global cybersecurity norms effort
under the auspices of the United Nations. Unlike the first dimension which examines
proxy actors more broadly including those that are used by states for defensive purposes, this second lens is about proxy actors used to cause harm to another party.
This short chapter will look at both private actors involved in the general provision of security for the benefit of the state, and private actors using force against
a third party to the benefit of the state, but will focus on the latter. The first section
outlines in greater detail the conditions present in the region assumed to contributeto the existence of proxy actors. The second part describes the proxy actors that are
publicly known to have been active during the crisis.

2

The Making of a Hot Conflict

The hot conflict between Ukraine and Russia was the result of simmering political tension that escalated in November 2013, when former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych abandoned plans to sign a trade agreement with the EU. Yanukovych’s decision incited mass protests that were met
with a violent government crackdown. In
Long before Yanukovych’s
flight, Russian hacker groups November, long before Yanukovych’s flightin February and the build-up of Russian
were executing DDoS attacks troops on the Crimean border, reports
and defacing websites.
emerged that Russian hacker groups were
executing Distributed Denial of Service(DDoS) attacks and defacing websites critical to the Yanukovych government’s relationship with Russia. This period was characterised by low-level hacking targeting highly
visible websites, either rendering them unavailable or changing their content.
On February 28, shortly after Yanukovych left the country, unmarked soldiers, that
Russia’s President Putin later acknowledged4 to be Russian troops, seized a military
airfield in Sevastopol and Simferopol international airport. Concurrently, armed sol2
3
4‘The Market for Force The Consequences of Privatizing Security,’ Cambridge University Press, 2005, http://www.cambridge.
org/US/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/comparative-politics/market-force-consequences-privatizing-security.
United Nations, General Assembly, Report of the Group of Governmental Experts on Developments in the Field of Information
and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security,United Nations, July 22, 2015, http://www.un.org/ga/search/
view_doc.asp?symbol=A/70/174.
‘Vladimir Putin admits for first time Russian troops took over Crimea, refuses to rule out intervention in Donetsk,’ National
Post, April 17, 2014, http://news.nationalpost.com/news/world/vladimir-putin-admits-for-first-time-russian-troops-tookover-crimea-refuses-to-rule-out-intervention-in-donetsk.

80

diers tampered with fibre optic cables, raiding the facilities of Ukrainian telecom firm
Ukrtelecom, which stated afterward that it had ‘lost the technical capacity to provide
connection between the peninsula and the rest of Ukraine and probably across thepeninsula, too’.5 In addition, cell phones of Ukrainian parliamentarians were hacked
and the main Ukrainian government website was shut down for 72 hours after Russian troops entered Crimea on March 2. Patriotic Ukrainian hacker groups such as‘Cyber Hundred’ and ‘Null Sector’ retaliated with DDoS attacks of their own against
websites of the Kremlin and the Central Bank of Russia.6 The day before the presidential election, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) discovered malware in the systemsof the Central Election Commission designed to compromise data collected on the
results of the election, revealing how close Russian hackers had come to sabotaging
the results.7 The hacker group ‘Cyber Berkut’ claimed responsibility.8

3

Incentives for the State to Use Capabilities
in Private Hands
Political incentive for states
A general political incentive for states toto use proxies is summed up
use proxies is summed up by the concept
by the concept of ‘plausibleof ‘plausible deniability’. Developed in thedeniability’.
context of maritime privateering, it was:‘invented [by state rulers] at the turn of the seventeenth century. If a ‘private’
undertaking that a ruler authorised met with success, s/he could claim a sharein the profits. If the enterprise caused conflict with another state, the ruler could
claim it was a private operation for which s/he could not be held responsible’.9
While some of the specific elements of maritime privateering are no longer relevant today, the general concept and logic for this type of behaviour still apply andexist today. For example, the Russian Government denied any involvement in the
Ukrainian crisis for many months, in spite of eyewitness accounts and news reports
plainly stating otherwise. One particularly horrible example of plausible deniability
was the mass murder of the passengers on Malaysia Airlines flight 17.
The benefits of plausible deniability also apply to the Ukrainian Government.
The Ukrainian Cyber Forces, led by Eugene Dokukin, is a volunteer group that
5
6
7
8
9

‘Feb. 28 Updates on the Crisis in Ukraine,’ The New York Times News Blog, February 28, 2014, http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.
com/2014/02/28/latest-updates-tensions-in-ukraine/?_r=0.
‘Kremlin website hit by ‘powerful’ cyber attack,’ Reuters, March 14, 2014, http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/14/us-russia-kremlin-cybercrime-idUSBREA2D16T20140314.
‘Cyber-attack’ cripples Ukraine’s electronic election system ahead of presidential vote,’ RT, 24 May, 2014, http://www.rt.com/
news/161332-ukraine-president-election-virus/.
‘Ukraine election narrowly avoided ‘wanton destruction’ from hackers (+video),’ The Christian Science Monitor, June 17, 2015,
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Passcode/2014/0617/Ukraine-election-narrowly-avoided-wanton-destruction-from-hackers-video.
Janice Thomson. Mercenaries, Pirates, and Sovereigns (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994), 21.

81

occasionally publishes data from the Russian Ministry of the Interior, and at one
point threatened to shut down the internet in the Crimea and other cities in eastern
Ukraine.10 There is no evidence suggesting that the Ukrainian Government coordinates or directly supports any of the Ukrainian Cyber Forces’ activities, and myown research supports this conclusion. At the same time, the Government benefits
from its activities with or without its involvement. For the Ukrainian Government,
another set of incentives is arguably more important than the political ones: its own
limited capabilities, and the possibility to rely on proxy actors to augment thesecapabilities in the face of a much more powerful opponent.
The Russian Government is considered to be among the most sophisticatedactors with significant in-house cyber capabilities,11 and the government in Ukraine
faced a dire situation at the beginning of the conflict. Its military had essentiallybeen falling apart since the end of the Soviet Union and Kyiv was ill-prepared for a
conflict with Russia. As Dmitry Gorenburg points out:
‘At the time of its creation, the Ukrainian military was considered the fourthmost powerful conventional military force in the world, behind only the UnitedStates, Russia, and China. However, these forces were allowed to atrophy
throughout the post-Soviet period, with virtually no funding provided for the
maintenance of equipment or troop training. Reforms were not carried out andthere were no attempts at rearmament to replace aging Soviet equipment’.12
The responses from several interviewees confirmed this assessment.

4

Capabilities Outside the State

In order for a state to be able to pursue the incentives of using proxy actors, private
actor capabilities must exist in the first place. With regard to cyberspace, such capabilities include those present within a state’s territory and beyond. Regarding theformer, significant capabilities have been present in Ukraine and Eastern Europe
since the 1980s. Misha Glenny, the award-winning journalist, recounts in his 2011
book Dark Market – How Hackers Became the New Mafia that:‘The hackers of Eastern Europe played a particularly important role in cracking security devices played on software…Bulgaria, Ukraine and Russia set thepace, with the Romanians not far behind.’13
10
11
12
13

‘Ukraine’s Lonely Cyberwarrior vs. Russia,’ The Daily Beast, February 18, 2015, http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/18/ukraine-s-lonely-cyber-warrior.html.
‘Russia Tops China as Principal Cyber Threat to US,’ The Diplomat, March 3, 2015, http://thediplomat.com/2015/03/russiatops-china-as-principal-cyber-threat-to-us/.
Dmitry Gorenburg. ‘Russia and Ukraine: Not the Military Balance You Think,’ War on the Rocks, November 10, 2015, http://
warontherocks.com/2014/11/russia-and-ukraine-not-the-military-balance-you-think/.
Misha Glenny. McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld (New York, Vintage Books: 2009), 59; see alsoNadiya Kostyuk’s chapter in this book.

82

Ukraine was the cradle of CarderPlanet, which was ‘changing the nature of cybercrime around the world’.14 One explanation why technically skilled people in the region
decided to pursue cybercrime to make a living was the lack of other opportunities. For
example, a job in the Ukrainian Government for somebody in his 20s pays roughly$3,000 – a year, not a month. And while Samsung has one of its largest R&D centres in
Kyiv, the private IT industry is neither large nor attractive enough to absorb all of theskilled labour, unlike in Israel, for example.15 Interestingly, ‘CarderPlanet was penetrated
and compromised by the Russian Secret Police almost as soon as it was set up’ but:‘why would the KGB waste resources on investigating networks that are rippingoff American and European credit cards? A complete waste of time. So for the
moment, Moscow was content to observe and store information. They knew
exactly who was who in the Odessa carding community’.16
Yet, it was not only the FSB that knew what was happening in Eastern European
countries. In 2009, Brian Krebs, an expert on cybercrime in the region and widely
read not only by law enforcement officials in the U.S. but also Ukraine, wondered:‘whether authorities in those countries would be any more willing to pursue
cyber crooks in their own countries if they were forced to confront just how
deeply those groups have penetrated key government and private computer
networks in those regions?’
An example is Dmitry Ivanovich Golubov, once considered a top cybercrime
boss by U.S. law enforcement, but now a leader of the Ukrainian Internet Party
participating in parliamentary elections. Russian agencies reportedly provide little
assistance with shutting down networks such as the Russian Business Network. Last
but not least, cyber criminals also do their best to avoid attracting local law enforcement attention. As Krebs notes:‘Some of the most prolific and recognizable malware disbursed by Russian andEast European cyber crime groups purposefully avoids infecting computers if
the program detects the potential victim is a native resident.’17
In sum, there is no shortage in the region of labour skilled in information technology and hacking, while a mature industry is missing, and government salaries ofa few thousand dollars a year pale in comparison to reports of thousands or millionsof dollars made in the latest cyber heist.
14
15
16
17

Misha Glenny. McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld, 48.
‘Nearshoring: Top 20 largest In-House R&D offices in Ukraine,’GoalEurope, October 4, 2013, http://goaleurope.
com/2013/10/04/nearshore-outsourcing-top-20-largest-rd-offices-in-ukraine/.
Misha Glenny. McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld, 52-53.
‘Story-Driven Résumé: My Best Work 2005-2009,’ KrebsonSecurity, December 9, 2010, http://krebsonsecurity.com/2009/12/
story-driven-resume-my-best-work-2005-2009-3/.

835Mapping and Analysis of Proxy Actors

There are several important findings regarding proxies and the conflict in Ukraine.
The first is that proxy actors are active as part of the conflict in Ukraine. The
second is that the amount of cyber proxy activity has remained relatively low.
There are two likely explanations for this: there has been a relatively low numberof significant cyber incidents associated with the conflict other than during its
initial phase as described above; and while there was clearly a significant wave
of patriotism and willingness by Ukrainian citizens to volunteer and support the
government, several interviewees suggested that the government in Kyiv did nothave the ability to absorb and coordinate these extra capacities. In other words, todraw from the political science literature on power, while significant cyber power
resources in the hands of private actors existed, the Ukrainian Government was
not able to effectively mobilise these resources to actually project power. Kyiv’s
cyber power was inhibited by a lack of what Alexander Klimburg calls ‘integrated
national capability’.18
Thirdly, the conflict does not appear to have mobilised the most sophisticated non-state actors with cyber capabilities in the region – the cybercriminals– to change their profit-driven behaviour
to more politically-driven action. While theOnce cybercriminals realconflict apparently politicised and led to aised that their spat started split of the criminal underground community in the autumn of 2014, the effect was
to affect business, ‘money
ephemeral and once the cybercriminals
trumped politics’.
realised that their spat started to affect theirbusiness, ‘money trumped politics’, according to Konstatin Korsun, head of council at the NGO Ukrainian Information Security Group and director at the private
cybersecurity company Berezha Security.19
A closer look reveals a range of proxy actors has been active. In the context ofa broader analysis of the market for force, it is notable that the crisis in Ukraine
demonstrated that cybersecurity is a domain where private actors possess significant capabilities and are used by states for both defensive and offensive purposes.
For example, the limited capabilities of the Ukrainian Government have been augmented through NATO assistance, namely its Cyber Defence Trust Fund, to train
and improve Ukraine’s cyber defences. Interestingly, the lead NATO member providing that assistance, Romania, has itself not been providing this assistance directly
through its government, but is relying on a proxy actor, a state-owned company
called Rasirom, to provide the service.20
18
19
20

Joseph S. Nye, Jr. The Future of Power (New York: Public Affairs, 2011).
Alexander Klimburg, ‘Mobilising Cyber Power,’ Survival 53.1 (2011), 56.
‘Kostiantyn Korsun,’ LinkedIn, accessed August 25, 2015, https://ua.linkedin.com/pub/kostiantyn-korsun/1b/12b/580.
‘Romania Turns Hacking Crisis Into Advantage, Helping Ukraine,’ The New York Times, May 13, 2015, http://www.nytimes.
com/aponline/2015/05/13/world/europe/ap-eu-romania-ukraine-cyber-warfare.html; ‘NATO-Ukraine Trust Fund on Cyber
Defence,’ Romania’s Permanent Representation to NATO, accessed August 25, 2015, http://nato.mae.ro/en/local-news/804.

84

While criminal groups have not been active players in the Ukraine conflict, themost prominent proxy actors have been hacktivist groups. These groups include proKyiv OpRussia, Russian CyberCommand (which considers itself to be part of Anonymous),21 Cyber Ukrainian Army, Cyber Hundred, Null Sector,22 and the pro-Moscow CyberBerkut and Anonymous Ukraine.23 Their activities have been limited to
DDoS attacks, web defacements, and the occasional leaking of government files.
The most serious incident involved the aforementioned targeting of the Ukrainian
voting system during the Ukrainian Presidential election. While Ukrainian government officials and many news reports blame the Russian Government for indirectly
orchestrating these operations, as well as for the crude ‘hack attacks’ on Ukrainianstate websites, the Russian Government has vehemently denied accusations that it
has any influence over these groups. Evidence for a relationship between pro-Russian separatists or hacker groups such as Cyber Berkut and the Russian Government
remains lacking.
The Ukrainian Cyber Force has been among the most prominent Ukrainian
hacktivist groups. It is led by Eugene Dokukin and a group of volunteers he recruited
through social media, whose number has fluctuated from several dozens to a few
hundred, and primarily includes ordinary citizens without a technical background.24
The Ukrainian Cyber Force combines a series of different activities, ranging fromthe unauthorised monitoring of CCTV cameras in eastern Ukraine and Russia, toreporting troop and separatist activities to web companies in an effort to shut down
their accounts, launching DDoS attacks against websites, and leaking sensitive documents from the Russian Government. While Dokukin has given a series of interviews and shares information about his actions with the media and the government,
there is no evidence that the government coordinates or supports him financially orotherwise. Instead, the government has been turning a blind eye.
Related to the conflict in Ukraine are the findings of several industry reports.
The U.S.-based security company FireEye published a report titled ‘APT28: A Window into Russia’s Cyber Espionage Operations?’, detailing the activities of a groupconducting political espionage against East European countries and security organisations. FireEye:‘conclude[s] that we are tracking a focused, long-standing espionage effort.
Given the available data, we assess that APT28’s work is sponsored by the Russian Government’.25
21
22
23
24
25

Jeffrey Carr. ‘Rival hackers fighting proxy war over Crimea,’ CNN, March 25, 2014, http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/25/opinion/
crimea-cyber-war/.
‘Cyber Wars: The Invisible Front,’ Ukraine Investigation, April 24, 2014, http://ukraineinvestigation.com/cyber-wars-invisible-front/.
‘Cyber Berkut Graduates From DDoS Stunts to Purveyor of Cyber Attack Tools,’ Recorded Future, June 8, 2015, https://www.
recordedfuture.com/cyber-berkut-analysis/.
‘Cyber warrior steps up effort to help in war with Russia,’ KyivPost, February 10, 2015, http://www.kyivpost.com/content/kyivpost-plus/cyber-warrior-steps-up-effort-to-help-in-war-with-russia-380184.html.
‘APT28 – A Window Into Russia’s Cyber Espionage Operations?’ FireEye, October 27, 2014, https://www2.fireeye.com/apt28.
html.

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Perhaps the most interesting report is the one published by the Finnish firm
F-Secure titled ‘BlackEnergy & Quedagh – The convergence of crimeware and APT
attacks’. The authors highlight that in 2014, malware named BlackEnergy, originallydeveloped and used for criminal profit-driven purposes, was deployed against government organisations in Ukraine by a group the report calls ‘Quedagh’. The reportconcludes by stating that:‘the use of BlackEnergy for a politically-oriented attack is an intriguing convergence of criminal activity and espionage. As the kit is being used by multiple
groups, it provides a greater measure of plausible deniability than is afforded bya custom-made piece of code.’ 26

6Conclusion

The conflict in Ukraine includes a range of proxy actors and proxy activity. This should
be expected given the existence of a hot conflict, the presence of significant cyber capabilities in private hands, and incentives for the nations involved to use these private
capabilities. However, the amount of cyber proxy activity has remained relatively low,much like the overall level of computer network operations compared to what someexperts predicted. It is notable that the conflict does not appear to have politicised andmobilised the most sophisticated non-state actors with cyber capabilities – the cybercriminals – to change their profit-driven behaviour to more politically-driven action.
Moreover, the Ukrainian Government has not had the capacity and strategy in place tobe able to absorb the additional capabilities provided by volunteers. Kyiv has therefore
not been able to mobilise and project the full potential of Ukraine’s power due to thelimited use of its true power resources. While the Ukrainian Government regularlyaccuses the Russian Government of using proxies, there seems to be less vehemencefrom the Russian side criticising, for example, the activities of the Ukrainian Cyber
Forces. According to one interviewee, one explanation is that the Russian Government has more to gain from being able to point to the existence of Ukrainian proxies
in order to thereby indirectly legitimise the existence of Russian proxies.
While this chapter hopefully shed some light on the role of proxy actors in the
Ukraine conflict, it is necessary to point to some important limitations and issues
that were beyond the scope of this short piece. First, the term ‘proxies’ lacks a clear
definition. While it is used in the GGE report, it is not defined, even though thereport distinguishes ‘proxies’ as a separate type of actor from state and non-state
actors. Developing a more systematic and nuanced analytical framework for proxies
is therefore the focus of my current research. This will hopefully be useful for futureempirical research on proxy actors around the world, as well as for ongoing policy
discussions through the GGE and elsewhere.
26‘The convergence of crimeware and APT attacks,’ F-Secure, 2014, https://www.f-secure.com/documents/996508/1030745/
blackenergy_whitepaper.pdf.

Chapter 10

Russian Information
Warfare: Lessons
from Ukraine
Margarita Levin Jaitner
Swedish Defense University

1

Introduction‘Information is now a species of weapon’,1 write Russians Maj. Gen. (R) Ivan Vorobyev and Col. (R) Valery Kiselyov. Closer to the truth is that Russia has a long historyof using information as a weapon – both in the context of mobilising its own population2 and in demonising foreign powers.3
Therefore, it is only natural that Russia has employed Information Warfare (IW)in Ukraine: from the onset of the ‘Euromaidan’ demonstrations, to the annexationof Crimea, and as a dimension of ongoing military operations in eastern Ukraine.
And it is equally unsurprising that, in the internet era, Moscow has developed effective tactics for waging IW in cyberspace.
This chapter discusses contemporary Russian IW theory and analyses Russian
IW activities on the ground in Crimea and in eastern Ukraine. While the dynamic
and diffuse nature of IW makes it difficult to gauge its precise impact, this chapter argues that Russian IW in Crimea and in eastern Ukraine has been highly
successful, and that the West is currently playing catch up vis-à-vis Russia in thisarena.
1
2
3

Vorobyov, I. and Kiseljov, V. ‘Russian Military Theory: Past and Present.’ Military Thought 2013 (3).
Peter Kenez. The birth of the propaganda state: Soviet methods of mass mobilization, 1917-1929 (Cambridge University Press,
1995).
David M. Glantz. Surprise and Maskirovka in Contemporary War. Soviet Army Studies Office, Army Combined Arms Center,
Fort Leavenworth KS, 1988). http://www.dtic.mil/get-tr-doc/pdf?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA216491.

87

2

Information Security and Cyber Security
in Russian Military Theory

In Russian government and academic circles, information is understood to be aform and source of great power. This was true well before the advent of the internet
and cyberspace – which have not changed Russian IW strategy, but only its tactics.
In the West, cyber security and information security are considered to be twodifferent things. In Russia, however, cyber is subordinate to information security,
which allows national security planners to oversee both technical data (e.g. theintegrity of password files) and cognitive data (e.g. political information on websites). Thus, any information found on the World Wide Web could be a ‘missile’
fired at Russia that is more dangerous than a typical cyber attack as currently understood in the West.
The logical consequence of this Russian perspective is to define and to protect
the borders of the Russia’s ‘information space’ (информационное пространство),and this philosophy is to be found easily in Russian doctrines, strategies, and activities both at home and abroad – including in Ukraine.
For example, Russia’s National Security Strategy 2020 states that ‘nationalist, separatist, radical religion’ is a danger to nation-states, and that a ‘global information
struggle’ is now intensifying. The document proposes to counter this threat by disseminating ‘truthful’ information to Russian citizens, including via the promotionof native internet platforms encompassing social media.4
As for the importance of cyberspace, numerous official documents describe
computer network operations as an integral part of Russian information security,
including: Information Security Doctrine of the Russian Federation,5 ConInformation superiority in
Views Regarding the Activities
cyberspace is an essential goal. ceptualof the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the Information Space,6 andBasic Principles for State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Field of International
Information Security.7
Academic discourse within the Russian military is similar. From a historical perspective, progress in computer science has wrought a new generation of warfare inwhich the achievement of information superiority in cyberspace is an essential goal.
Within any desired zone of influence, this includes attacks against and defence of4567Security Council of the Russian Federation. Стратегия национальной безопасности Российской Федерации до 2020 года.
(National Security Strategy to 2020) (Moscow, 2009).
Security Council of the Russian Federation. 2000. Доктрина информационной безопасности Российской Федерации. (Information Security Doctrine of the Russian Federation.) (Moscow, 2000).
Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation. Концептуальные взгляды на деятельность Вооруженных Сил Российской
Федерации в информационном пространстве. (Conceptual Views Regarding the Activities of the Armed Forces of theRussian Federation in the Information Space) (Moscow, 2011).
Security Council of the Russian Federation. Основы государственной политики Российской Федерации в области
международной информационной безопасности на период до 2020 года. (Basic Principles for State Policy of the RussianFederation in the Field of International Information Security to 2020.) (Moscow, 2013).

88both technical data and cognitive information, as well as and psychological operations, or PSYOPS.
Maj. Gen. (R) Ivan Vorobyev and Col.
Information can disorganise(R) Valery Kiselyov have written thatgovernance, delude adversarinformation is ‘not just an addition to
ies and reduce an opponent’s
firepower, attack, manoeuvre, but transforms and unites all of these’.8 Col. (R)will to resist.
Sergei Chekinov and Lt. Gen. (R) Sergei
Bogdanov go even further: ‘Today the means of information influence reached such
perfection that they can tackle strategic tasks’.9
Checkinov and Bogdanov point out – in the aftermath of the annexation of
Crimea and the current destabilisation of Ukraine – that information can be used
to disorganise governance, organise anti-government protests, delude adversaries,
influence public opinion, and reduce an opponent’s will to resist. Furthermore, it
is critical that such activities begin prior to the onset of traditional military operations.10
At least since Soviet times, Russia considers itself to be a victim of IW, engaged ina battle between the ‘historical Russian world’ (of which Ukraine is a part) and theWest where the US is its principal antagonist.11 Professor Igor Panarin has describeda ‘first information war’ during the Cold War that resulted in the demise of the Soviet
Union. Today, he sees an ‘Operation ANTI-PUTIN’ modelled on an earlier ‘Operation ANTI-STALIN’. He contends that Western IW was behind both the Arab Spring12
and Euromaidan, and that WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange is an agent of the British MI6.13
Panarin believes there is a ‘second information war’ taking place against countries
such as Russia and Syria which began at least by the time of the Russo-Georgian war
in 2008.14 Russian President Vladimir Putin has characterised the rift between Russia
and the West as an incompatibility of values («духовные ценности»).15
Panarin is far from being the only contemporary Russian military thinker arguing this line. A group of five authors recently wrote in Russia’s Military Thought that
‘The NATO countries led by the US … have set up a powerful information operations (IO) system and are going on expanding and improving it’.16
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

16

Vorobyov and Kiseljov ‘Russian Military Theory: Past and Present.’ Military Thought, 2013 (3).
Sergei G. Checkinov and Sergei A. Bogdanov. ‘Asymmetrical Actions to Maintain Russia’s Military Security.’ Military Thought,
2010 (1).
Sergei G. Checkinov and Sergei A. Bogdanov. ‘The Art of War in the Early 21st Century: Issues and Opinions.’ MilitaryThought, 2015 (24).
Igor Panarin. Информационная война и коммуникации. (Information warfare and communications.). Moskva, Russia:
Goryachaya Liniya – Telekom, 2014a.
Ibid.
Igor Panarin. Posting on Facebook , 29 June, 2014b. http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=487886764691548&id=100004106865632&fref=ts. Accessed 19 December, 2014.
Igor Panarin. 2014a.
Vladimir Putin. ‘Путин защитит традиционные семейные ценности. (Putin to defend traditional family values).’ Vesti,
12 December, 2013a. http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=1166423; Vladimir Putin. ‘Наши духовные ценности делают насединым народом’ (Our values unite us as peoples. Speech in Kyiv 27.07.2013.). YouTube, 2013b. https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=YW1WYh_gvJg Accessed 20 December 2014.
Dylevski, I.N., Elyas, V.P., Komov, S.A., Petrunin, A.N. & Zapivakhin V.O.‘Political and Military Aspects of the Russian Federation’s State Policy on International Information Security.’ Military Thought, 2015 (24).

89Even Russia, however, is not a monolith.17 Some military scholars have criticised
the prevailing view and have suggested that a distinction should be drawn between
attacks on technical and cognitive data, detailing a ‘technospheric war’ largely corresponding to the Western perception of ‘cyber war’.18 Similarly, a publicly available
draft of the next Cyber Security Strategy of the Russian Federation problematises thedifference between the Russian and the Western views on the matter, suggesting thatcyber security and information security be treated as distinct challenges. However,to date these remain unimplemented proposals.

3

Russian IW in Crimea and Novorossiya19

Russian IW in Ukraine began well before the current conflict. The Security Servicesof Ukraine (SBU) warned that its government officials had been targeted by Russian
espionage malware (variously called ‘Snake’, ‘Uroboros’ or ‘Turla’) since 2010.20,21,22
Successful cyber espionage can have a strategic impact. In a military context, it canbe directly linked to a desire to gain information superiority on the battlefield,23 andcan sometimes be easy to associate with ongoing military operations.24
In Crimea, just as soon as insignia-less armed fighters appeared on the scene(the same dynamic later occurred in eastThe course of events was
ern Ukraine), Russian media referred topeople’ who were ‘good
enveloped in a sophisticated them as ‘friendly
to civilians’,25 while the Ukrainian side
effort to control the flow ofcalled them the ‘little green men’ frominformation.
Russia. For weeks, Vladimir Putin26 and

17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26

Balybin, C., Donskov, Yu. and Boyko A. ‘Electronic Warfare Terminology in the Context of Information Operations.’ MilitaryThought, 2014 (23) 3.
Yurii Starodubtsev, Vladimir Bukharin and Sergei Semenov (2012). Техносферная война (War in the technosphere). Военная
Мысль (Military Thought) 2012(7).
Novorossiya – historically a region north of the Black Sea, annexed by the Russian Empire following the Russo-Turkish wars.
The term was revived to denote a confederation of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and Lugansk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine.
Security Service of Ukraine, SBU. Служба безпеки України попереджає про ‘фейкові’ електронні розсилки від імені
державних органів. (Security Service of Ukraine warns of ‘fake’ e-mails on behalf of public authorities). 26 September, 2014.
http://www.sbu.gov.ua/sbu/control/uk/publish/article?art_id=132039&cat_id=39574.
‘Snake Cyber-espionage Campaign Targetting Ukraine is Linked to Russia.’ InfoSecurity Magazine, 11 March 2014. http://www.
infosecurity-magazine.com/news/snake-cyber-espionage-campaign-targetting-ukraine/.
‘Turla: Spying tool targets governments and diplomats.’ Symantec, 7 August 2014. http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/
turla-spying-tool-targets-governments-and-diplomats.
James J. Coyle. ‘Russia Has Complete Information Dominance in Ukraine.’ Atlantic Council,12 May 2015. http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/russia-has-complete-informational-dominance-in-ukraine.
‘Operation Armageddon: Cyber Espionage as a Strategic Component of Russian Modern Warfare.’ Lookingglass, 28 April 2015.
https://lgscout.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Operation_Armageddon_FINAL.pdf.
Aleksandr Leonov. ‘Солдаты будущего: чем вооружены «вежливые люди» в Крыму. (Future soldiers: The friendly men’sequipment in Crimea.).’ Forbes, 7 March 2014. http://m.forbes.ru/article.php?id=251676.
Vladimir Putin. Путин: ‘В Крыму нет российских солдат. Это самооборона Крыма. (Putin: There are no Russian soldiers.
This is Crimea’s popular defense.).’ YouTube, 2014b. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzKm7uxK8ws. Accessed 20 December 2014.

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Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu27 denied the participation of Russian troops
in the Crimea takeover – even though Ukrainian troops on the peninsula wereforced into a quick, large-scale surrender.2829
In warfare, there has always been a tight relationship between IW and traditional
military operations. In Crimea, the entire course of events – from the takeover of
the Simferopol parliament to the disputed referendum and the Russian annexationof Crimea – was enveloped in a sophisticated effort to control the flow of information. Russian IW extended across the entire spectrum of communication in boththe cyber and non-cyber domains, targeting its physical, logical, and social layers.
In early March, Ukrtelecom reported kinetically damaged fiber-optic trunk cables,
as well as the temporary seizure of its company’s offices. Further disclosures detailed
the jamming of Ukrainian naval communications.30 SBU Chief Valentyn Nalyvaichenko declared that Ukrainian government officials’ mobile communications were
subjected to an ‘IP-telephonic attack’.31 And on the World Wide Web, government sites
and news portals suffered Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks and defacements – all of which contributed to a significant information blackout.32,33
The ‘hacktivist’ group Cyberberkut34 has repeatedly claimed to have gained accessto telephone recordings and e-mail correspondence between Ukrainian, European
Union (EU) and US officials – and released some content to prove it. Cyberberkut
also allegedly attacked the Ukrainian electronic voting system and defaced several
NATO websites.35
The importance of gaining information superiority in warfare can be seen in
how much time and resources have been spent in creating official, semi-official,
and unofficial sources of war-related information, including dedicated channels on
YouTube.36
The success of IW is hard to gauge, but these attacks likely made it more difficult
for Kyiv to gain a clear picture of what was happening in Crimea – which in turnpresumably hampered its decision-making process. Even unsophisticated cyberattacks tend to generate significant media attention, and as a bonus can sow general
distrust in systems and their security architecture.37
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37

Sergey Shoigy. 2014. ‘Шойгу о российской технике в Крыму: ‘чушь и провокация’. (Shoigu on Russian military in Crimea:‘nonsense and provocation’).’ BBC Russkaya Sluzhba, 5 March 2014. http://www.bbc.co.uk/russian/russia/2014/03/140305_
crimea_troops_shoigu.
Yuzhniy Kurier. ‘Все. Украинские солдаты в Крыму сдаются. (The End. Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea surrender.).’ Yuzhniy
Kuri’er, March 19, 2014. http://courier.crimea.ua/news/courier/vlast/1146781.html.
‘CNN.’ ‘Украинские войска в Крыму сдаются силам самообороны. (Ukrainian troops surrender to Crimean self-defence
forces.).’ edited by RT, 19 March 2014. http://russian.rt.com/inotv/2014-03-19/CNN-Ukrainskie-vojska-v-Krimu.
Tim Maurer and Scott Janz. ‘The Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Cyber and Information Warfare in a Regional Context.’ The International Relations and Security Network, 17 October 2014. http://www.isn.ethz.ch/Digital-Library/Articles/Detail/?id=184345.
Pierluigi Paganini. ‘Crimea – The Russian Cyber Strategy to Hit Ukraine.’ InfoSec Institute, 11 March 2014. http://resources.
infosecinstitute.com/crimea-russian-cyber-strategy-hit-ukraine/.
Tim Maurer and Scott Janz. ‘The Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Cyber and Information Warfare in a Regional Context.’
Piret Pernik. ‘Is All Quiet on the Cyber Front in the Ukrainian crisis?’ RKK ICDS International Centre for Defence and Security,
7 March 2014. http://www.icds.ee/et/blogi/artikkel/is-all-quiet-on-the-cyber-front-in-the-ukrainian-crisis/.
‘Киберберкут’ http://cyber-berkut.org/en.
Pierluigi Paganini. ‘Crimea – The Russian Cyber Strategy to Hit Ukraine.’‘YouTube.’ 2014. Database query: ‘Новости Новороссии’. Accessed 13 December 2014.
Tim Maurer and Scott Janz. ‘The Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Cyber and Information Warfare in a Regional Context.’

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Ukrainian military commentator Dmitry Tymchuk, speaking on behalf of the‘Information Resistance’ group,38 accused the interim government in Kyiv of lacking
clarity and moving too slowly,39 and Ukrainian parliament (Verhovna Rada) member Gennady Moskal complained that Ukrainian troops had not received permission to use their weapons in time.40
Today, the war in eastern Ukraine can also be described as a hall of IW smokeand mirrors. On 17 April, 2014, Vladimir Putin referred to the south-eastern partof Ukraine as Novorossiya, and a similarly named ‘confederation’ was formallycreated on May 24, 2014.41 However, an analysis of web data shows that cyber
preparations were made prior to this announcement: Novorossiya websites suchas novorus.info and novorossia.su were registered with who.is in March 2014,
and the official websites of the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk wereregistered before the entities came into being.42 Finally, Moscow has consistently
denied that its military personnel are engaged in Ukraine, but web-based studies
have found evidence of their deployments to Ukraine43 as well as their involvement in the crash of the Malaysian Airlines flight 17,44 via social media and imagery analysis.45

4

The Unique Characteristics of Russian IW

The Russian political narrative – aimed at both domestic and foreign audiences –describes a ‘Russian World’ (Русский Мир), ‘Russian values’, and even a ‘Russiansoul’. The narrative’s articulation begins at the very top, in the person of Vladimir
Putin, and flows downward in a pyramidal fashion through traditional media andcyberspace all the down to the grassroots level. It targets not just Russian citizens but
the entire Russian-speaking population of planet Earth. Beyond that, it is expectedthat the narrative’s influence will organically spread outside the diaspora.
The basic storyline is easy to comprehend and to convey, and is intended to be
become a foundation for the interpretation of current and future world events. In
this narrative, Russia is a misunderstood and misjudged superpower, and a necessary counterweight to Western liberal values. By contrast, the West has experienced
38

39
40
41
42
43
44
45

‘Information Resistance’ is, according to its own description on http://sprotyv.info/en/about-us, a non-governmental projectthat aims to counteract external threats to the informational space of Ukraine’. The group provides operational data and analytics. As one of the project’s front figures, Dmitry Tymchuk has provided analysis to, amongst others, Kyiv Post and Huffington
Post.
Dimitro Tymchuk. ‘О предательстве (On betrayal).’ Gazeta.ua, March 2014. http://gazeta.ua/ru/blog/42707/o-predatelstve.
Yuzhniy Kurier. ‘Все. Украинские солдаты в Крыму сдаются. (The End. Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea surrender.).’ Yuzhniy
Kurier, 19 March 2014. http://courier.crimea.ua/news/courier/vlast/1146781.html.
Vladimir Putin. ‘Прямая линия с Владимиром Путиным.’ Phone-in with Vladimir Putin. (Transcript). 17 April 2014. http://
kremlin.ru/news/20796.
See who.is listings for novorus.info (http://who.is/whois/novorus.info), novorossia.su (http://who.is/whois/novorossia.su)‘Selfie Soldiers: Russia Checks in to Ukraine.’ Vice News, 16 June, 2015.
‘Bellingcat.com’ By and for citizen investigative journalists: Russia. http://www.bellingcat.com/tag /russia/.
NATO ACO – Allied Command Operations. ‘New Satellite Imagery Exposes Russian Combat Troops Inside Ukraine’.
NATO Allied Command Operations: News, 28 August 2014. http://aco.nato.int/new-satellite-imagery-exposes-russian-combat-troops-inside-ukraine.aspx.

92

a decay of ‘traditional values’ and acts hypocritically in the international arena. As aresult, the West’s philosophy, systems, and actions should not be trusted.
At the bottom of the pyramid, the Russian political narrative is absorbed into
individual group ideologies in different ways. For example, nationalists focus on
Russia’s historic power, while communist groups decry capitalism. Each groupself-selects and customises the narrative in unique ways that correspond to theirown natural biases. And this stovepiping dynamic also tends to bypass critical peer
review from the wider public.
This group dynamic capitalises on the pre-established interpersonal trust characteristic of online social media – a by-product of information overload in the internet
era. There are many groups which are naturally sceptical of mainstream information
channels, such as the population of the Former Soviet Union, where citizens havelong had little trust in official media. In Moscow, the word of friends and colleagues
is immeasurably more important than that of mass media.46
One of the latest developments in this arena has been the rise of professional‘trolls’ and other (sometimes anonymous) ‘opinion agents’. Such operations (in Russian military terminology ‘maskirovka’ (маскировка), or denial and deception) can
be countered through the effective analysis of open source information, but usually not in a timely manner. Therefore, analysts and scholars must exercise caution,
because online persona, images, messages, and campaigns can be wholly fabricated.

5

Conclusion

The global internet offers military and intelligence agencies the opportunity to
expand and enhance IW, and it simultaneously presents their targets and victims
with novel challenges. Russian IW – both in traditional media and in cyberspace– tangibly contributed to the successful annexation of Crimea, and is playing animportant role in the ongoing crisis in eastern Ukraine. On balance, this author
believes that Russia, and not the West, currently has the lead in contemporary IW.
Unlike propaganda in Soviet times, which was largely a unidirectional, top-down
phenomenon, today’s IW encompasses a worldwide audience that is both narrative-bearing and narrative-developing. Domestic, diaspora, and foreign audiencesinteract with current events in real time as they travel through online platforms
such as social media. This dynamic makes it more challenging for propagandists topredict how and where the narrative will evolve, but to some degree it is possible topresume how certain political groups will interpret the narrative and how they will
describe it to their followers.
In sum, the traditional ‘fog of war’ has changed in the internet era. The ubiquity and anonymity of internet communications offer all nations including Russia
46

Markku Lonkila. ‘Russian Protest On-and Offline: The role of social media in the Moscow opposition demonstrations in December 2011.’ UPI FIIA Briefing Papers 98, 2012.

93

In sum, the traditional‘fog of war’ has changedin the internet era.

new IW opportunities, even as defenders also
have more tools and tactics at their disposal
to counter hostile actions. In Ukraine, ‘conventional’ cyber attacks by Russia were negligible,47 but social media-based, narrative-focused attacks including disinformation have been common. And while it is possible
to counter adversary operations with accurate open source analysis (for journalists,48
scholars, and activists49), this is unfortunately difficult to do in a timely manner.

47
48
49

However, even unsophisticated cyber attacks such as DDoS and website defacements tend to garner widespread media exposure, and can sow distrust in the security of systems. This occurred during the invasion of Crimea, when Russia sought tocapitalise on events that unfolded far too quickly for methodical information analysis to take place.
Jessikka Aro.‘Yle Kioski Investigated: This is How Pro-Russia Trolls Manipulate Finns Online – Check the List of Forums
Favored by Propagandists’. YLE Kioski, 24 June 2015. http://kioski.yle.fi/omat/troll-piece-2-english.
Sites such as www.stopfake.org were launched inviting people to join the ‘struggle against fake information about events in
Ukraine’ by verifying online allegations. ‘Stopfake.org.’ 2015. Accessed: 14 June 2015. http://www.stopfake.org; ‘Bellingcat
kontert Kritik mit neuen Satellitenbildern’. Zeit Online. 12 June 2015. www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2015-06/bellingcat-russland-mh17-satellitenfotos-manipulation; Dmitry Volchek and Claire Bigg. ‘Ukrainian bloggers use social media to track Russian soldiers fighting in east’. The Guardian, 3 June 2015. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/03/bloggers-socialmedia-russian-soldiers-fighting-in-ukraine.

Chapter 11

Missing in Action:
Rhetoric on Cyber Warfare
Liisa Past
NATO CCD COE

1Introduction

In the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, there has been much talk of ‘hybrid warfare’,encompassing every aspect of war including cyber operations. Much of cyber
operations is classified and hidden from public view, but there are numerous ways
in which information becomes known, including via intelligence leaks and open
source analysis. This chapter focuses on leadership communications and what they
can tell us about conflict in cyberspace.
In geopolitics, heads of state are the ultimate decision-makers, especially during
a national security crisis. Leaders are expected to show rhetorical as well as executive leadership. The media takes it from there, but the public still struggles to finda consistent evaluation, primarily relying on experts and opinion leaders.1 As thehead of state seeks his or her ‘rally around the president’ moment,2 domestic andinternational observers analyse their explanations and emotions – as well as theirproffered initiatives and guidance.3 From a national podium, heads of state have an
inherent advantage, as their arguments are ‘more likely to resonate with the publicthan the opinions of leaders voicing a more local outlook’.4
Communication and discourse analysis in international affairs rests on the ideathat language cannot be taken at face value. Words carry definitional meaning, but dif1
2
3
4

Timothy E Cook. Governing with the News (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1998).
Birgitte Lebens Nacos. Terrorism and the Media: From the Iran Hostage Crisis to the Oklahoma City Bombing (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996).
Jeffrey E Cohen. Presidential Responsiveness and Public Policy-Making, The Public and the Policies That Presidents Choose (AnnArbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1997).
Ibid, 32.

95

ferent audiences will perceive them differently. Critical analysis can yield insight into
the true beliefs and motivations of any speaker, including policy-makers. Meaning is‘mediated through language’5 and all words have ‘social values’6 that vary with context.
This chapter analyses Russian and Ukrainian leadership statements, speeches,press releases and other rhetoric from 2014 and 2015, especially the English-language elements, written for a global audience and printed in international media.
The author also searched major international news outlets for the keywords‘Ukraine’, ‘Russia’, ‘cyber’, and ‘information warfare’. In all cases, focus remained on
the rhetoric attributable to a head of state or other high-level political player,7 withan eye toward uncovering their underlying motivations, beliefs, and ideologies.

2

Analytical Focus

This analysis is designed to yield insight into numerous areas of international concern. Above all, the world would like to understand more about the emerging threatof cyber warfare. New developments in research and technology, as well as in themeans and methods of war, are usually far ahead of their codification in doctrine.
Computer network operations fit nicely within the concept of hybrid warfare thathas been so characteristic of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. Cyber attacks are similar tocovert operations, information operations, denial and deception, false flag and no-flag
attacks: they give national command and conAn analysis of politicaltrol structures some degree of plausible denirhetoric may yield signif- ability. These aspects of war tend to be highlyclassified; therefore, an analysis of political rheticant insight into whatoric may yield significant insight into what polipoliticians cannot disticians, soldiers and spies simply cannot discussin public forums, namely, one of the most vexcuss in public forums.
ing challenges of cyber attacks: attribution.
Political leaders must appeal to the hearts and minds of their domestic andinternational audiences, with the help of emotional and sometimes long-winded
speeches. National security establishments must provide legal support for theiractions through the release of press statements and promulgation of doctrine. With
these in hand, analysts may be able to understand much more about the otherwise covert nature of cyber attacks. In 2015, Russia has a fairly well-developed military doctrine on cyber and information warfare, while that of Ukraine is still in its
infancy. This analysis offers a deeper understanding of each nation’s non-explicit
political objectives related to cyber warfare.
567Henrik Larsen. Foreign Policy and Discourse Analysis: France, Britain and Europe (London: Routledge advances in International Relations and Politics, 1997), 11.
Ibid, 14.
Unfortunately, on the current ‘President of Ukraine’ website, documents and speeches by former Ukrainian President Viktor
Yanukovych cannot be found.

96

3

RussiaSince the turn of the century, Russia has been publicly admiring European values
while simultaneously emphasising sovereignty and a strong national defence.8 Moscow insists that ‘each nation in the region should be given a right to experiment with
its own democratic model that fits its national and international conditions’.9 Thistension may only grow stronger with time, and we may see further Russian moves
away from shared values in the future as Moscow confronts not only Ukraine but
also the West more generally, including in Syria.
Regarding Ukraine, Russia insists it is a bystander and even a victim. Putin said,‘There are still many threats and challenges in the world today. As you may know,
in Europe, militant nationalism is raising its head here and there – the one that once
led to the appearance of the Nazi ideology. I will not dwell on each of the hotspots
separately – we all know where the danger is. Incidentally, the situation in ourneighbouring brotherly Ukraine is an example of the disaster and loss such an irresponsible policy can bring about.’10 In explaining Gazprom’s tough stance vis-à-vis
Ukraine, for example, Putin has argued that there was no other choice but to takea hard line against Kyiv,11 again placing Russia as a bystander, not an active party.
Putin has consistently delegitimised Poroshenko’s government:‘There can only be one assessment: this was an anti-constitutional takeover,an armed seizure of power [that] significantly destabilised the east and southeast of Ukraine […] we see the rampage of reactionary forces, nationalist
and anti-Semitic forces going on in certain parts of Ukraine, including Kyiv[…] Are the current authorities legitimate? The Parliament is partially, but all
the others are not. The current Acting President is definitely not legitimate […]one set of thieves [is] being replaced by another. […] We will not fight with
the Ukrainian people [but] I do not have a partner at the top level there’.12
Throughout the Ukraine crisis which
Throughout the Ukraine cribegan in 2014, Vladimir Putin has not
sis, Vladimir Putin has notonce used the word ‘cyber’. This does notonce used the word ‘cyber’.
signify a lack of interest in the subject, orthat Russia has not engaged in computer
network operations, but it does demonstrate a preference not to discuss the issue,
which in turn likely means that cyber warfare as a distinct form of attack, from
8
9
10
11
12

Andrei P. Tsygankov. Russia’s Foreign Policy: Change and Continuity in National Identity (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers,2013), 181.
Ibid.
‘Meeting with Presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan’ Website of the President of Russia, 8 May 2014),
http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/20980.
‘Message to the leaders of European countries regarding the supply and transit of Russian gas across the territory of Ukraine’Website of the President of Russia, 15 May 2014, http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/page/82.
‘Vladimir Putin answered journalists’ questions on the situation in Ukraine’ Website of the President of Russia 3 April 2014),
http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/20366.

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Russia’s perspective, has not played a major role in the Ukraine conflict. There havebeen some commercial reports alleging specific Russian cyber attacks, such as thatby the security firm FireEye,13 but these are typically dismissed as Western propaganda. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, ‘We know that blaming
Russia for everything has turned into a sport’.14
Putin did refer to the stories about phone hacking and surveillance of top politicians, which were prominent in the news in 2014:‘As for the facts of cyber espionage that you mentioned, it not only amounts toovert hypocrisy in relationships between allies and partners, but also a direct
violation of the state’s sovereignty, an infringement on human rights and aninvasion of privacy. We are looking forward to jointly developing an international information security system’.15
This quote may indicate an underlying assumption of Russian doctrine: today,
everyone is spying on everyone, there are currently no acceptable international laws
to govern such activities in cyberspace, and Russia must be a part of any credible
effort to develop such norms.
Although Russia claims not to be directly involved in the Ukraine conflict, Moscow still wants to direct its peace-making efforts. Putin has championed a consideration of Ukraine’s eastern regions16 has produced a diplomatic solution called the
Putin Plan17 and ‘gave the instruction to hold consultations with foreign partners,
including the IMF and the G8 countries, on organising financial assistance for
Ukraine’.18

4

UkraineMany of these quotes came from the President of Russia’s website, and are directly
attributable to Vladimir Putin. However, most of the conflict-related quotes in thissection – from the President of Ukraine’s website – are from news articles and press
releases that quote Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Unlike on the Russiansite, full-length Ukrainian speeches are a smaller proportion of the presidential
communications. That said, Ukraine has been much clearer than Russia in identify13
14
15
16
17
18

‘APT28 – A Window Into Russia’s Cyber Espionage Operations?’ FireEye, https://www2.fireeye.com/apt28.html.
Owen Matthews. ‘Russia leading the way in the cyber arms race,’ Irish Examiner, 13 June 2015, http://www.irishexaminer.com/
lifestyle/features/big-read-russia-leading-the-way-in-the-cyber-arms-race-336675.html.
‘Interview to Prensa Latina and ITAR-TASS’ Website of the President of Russia, 11 July 2014, http://en.kremlin.ru/events/
president/news/46190.
‘On the start of contacts with Ukraine’s Choice public movement in Donetsk and Lugansk’ Website of the President of Russia,
22 June 2014, http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news.
‘The ‘Putin Plan’ for settling the conflict in Ukraine’ Website of the President of Russia, 3 September 2014, http://en.kremlin.
ru/events/president/news/46554.
‘Instructions regarding the situation in Ukraine’ Website of the President of Russia, 27 February 2014, http://en.kremlin.ru/
events/president/news/20347.

98ing cyberspace as a separate and active
Ukraine has been muchdomain of conflict. Various terms haveclearer than Russia in identibeen used, such as ‘cyber security’,19fying cyberspace as a separate‘informational cyber-security system
20
and active domain of conflict.
of Ukraine’, and ‘cyber and information security’.21 These terms may refer toslightly different things at different times, but in general, there was more cyber warfare-related content to analyse.
From the beginning of the conflict, Ukraine has suffered a variety of network
attacks. In February 2014, the Ukrainian telecommunications firm Ukrtelecom
reported that ‘unknown people’22 had damaged a fibre backbone cable that resulted
in the loss of communication between Crimea and the rest of Ukraine. Not longafter, Ukrainian security chief Valentyn Nalivaichenko announced, ‘I confirm thatan ... attack is under way on mobile phones of members of the Ukrainian parliament for the second day in a row’.23 The most sophisticated attack came against the
Ukrainian Central Election Commission (CEC) during Ukraine’s Presidential elections.24 However, there was no official attribution for any of these attacks provided
by the government in Kyiv.
There were at least two cases of cyber attack attribution, both to Russia. The
Security Service of Ukraine linked the disruption of mobile communications andthe defacement of websites to pro-Russian hackers and to pro-Russian forces in
Crimea. There was no direct link made to Moscow, perhaps in part because the‘IP-telephonic’ attack was aimed at top Ukrainian politicians irrespective of theirpolitical allegiance.25 On another occasion, when the hacktivist group CyberBerkut
claimed responsibility for an attack on German government websites, UkrainianPrime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk placed the blame on Russian intelligence: ‘Istrongly recommend that the Russian secret services stop spending taxpayer money
for cyberattacks against the Bundestag and Chancellor Merkel’s office’.26
In the case of downed Malaysian airliner MH17, which Poroshenko called terrorism,27 the President stated that ‘The State Security Service of Ukraine has inter19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27

‘President met with U.S. Congress delegation,’ Office of the President of Ukraine, 6 August 2014 http://www.president.gov.ua/
en/news/prezident-zustrivsya-z-delegaciyeyu-kongresu-ssha-35766.
‘NSDC decision: Ukraine asks the UN, NATO, EU, OSCE and strategic partners for help,’ Office of the President of Ukraine,
28 August 2014, http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/ukrayina-zvertayetsya-za-dopomogoyu-do-oon-nato-yes-obsye-de-33573.
‘Presidents of Ukraine and Lithuania have held the Seventh session of the Council of Presidents’ Office of the President of
Ukraine, 24 November 2014. http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/prezidenti-ukrayini-i-litvi-proveli-some-zasidannya-radi-pre-34105.
Ukrtelecom. ‘Ukrtelecom’s Crimean sub-branches officially report that unknown people have seized several telecommunications nodes in the Crimea,’ 28 February 2014, http://en.ukrtelecom.ua/about/news?id=120467.
Dave Lee. ‘Russia and Ukraine in cyber ‘stand-off ’,’ BBC News, 5 March 2014 http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-26447200.
SRK/NN/SS, ‘Hackers attack Ukraine election website,’ PressTV, 25 October 2014, http://www.presstv.com/detail/2014/10/25/383623/ukraines-election-website-hacked.
Max Smolaks. ‘Security Service Of Ukraine Claims Politicians’ Phones Are Under Attack,’ TechWeek Europe, 4 March 2014,
http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/workspace/security-service-ukraine-claims-politicians-phones-attack-140643.
Erik Kirscbaum. ‘Ukraine says Russia behind cyber attack on German government,’ Reuters, 8 January 2015, http://www.
reuters.com/article/2015/01/08/us-germany-cyberattack-idUSKBN0KH0IY20150108.
‘Address of the President on the occasion of the crash of Malaysia Airlines aircraft,’ Office of the President of Ukraine, 18 July
2014, http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/zvernennya-prezidenta-z-privodu-tragediyi-z-litakom-aviakomp-33262.

99

cepted a conversation in which one of the leaders of the mercenaries boasted about
bringing down the plane in his reporting to his Russian supervisor, a colonel of theGeneral Intelligence Unit of Russia’s Armed Forces’28 and ‘terrorists have alreadydeclared their desire to hide the evidence and transport the aircraft’s black boxes to
Moscow’.29
In eastern Ukraine, Poroshenko contends that the separatist movement is ‘fully
controlled’ by Russian leadership30 and even in government-controlled territory, heannounced that ‘[t]he Security Service of Ukraine unmasked and neutralised theterrorist group coordinated by special forces of the Russian Federation’.31
To international audiences, Poroshenko has focused primarily on the broader
topic of hybrid warfare, taking care to fit within the narratives and terminologyof the West. At the 2015 Munich Security
Conference, he said that ‘[f]or over a year
To international audiences,
Poroshenko has focused pri- Ukraine has been facing dramatic consequences of an undeclared hybrid warfare.
marily on the broader topic
It is very important that the states in theof hybrid warfare.
region devote more attention to hybrid
threats. […] Today, a former strategic
partner is waging a hybrid war against a sovereign state, a co-founder of the United
Nations. Mounds of lies and propaganda have been heaped into a wall of hatred,
erected between two once friendly nations’.32 While analysts have yet to agree on acommon definition of hybrid warfare, it certainly encompasses Internet-based propaganda, information operations, and computer hacking.
Looking toward the future, Poroshenko has positioned himself as a ‘President of
Peace’33 ‘on the forefront of the global fight for democracy’.34 Russia is the clear antagonist: ‘all military threats and challenges are related to Russia,’35 and Moscow’s war‘has brought Ukraine to the brink of its survival’.36 Poroshenko argues that not justUkraine, but the whole world needs a resolution to this conflict,37 and that ‘democracies must support each other’.38 Ultimately, Ukraine’s national security goal is ‘full
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38

Ibid.
Ibid.
‘President’s statement on ceasefire from February 15,’ Office of the President of Ukraine, 15 February 2015, http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/zayava-prezidenta-pro-pripinennya-vognyu-z-0000-15-lyutogo-34723.
‘Head of the Security Service of Ukraine reports to the President: Terrorist group coordinated by Russian special forces was
neutralized,’ Office of the President of Ukraine, 16 August 2014, http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/zneshkodzheno-teroristichnu-grupu-yaku-koordinuvali-specsluz-33478.
‘Speech by President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko at the Munich Security conference,’ Office of the President of Ukraine, 7 February 2015, http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/vistup-prezidenta-ukrayini-petra-poroshenka-na-myunhenskij-k-34663.
Petro Poroshenko. Speech by President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko at the Munich Security Conference 2015.
Petro Poroshenko. ‘Address by the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko to the Joint Session of the United States Congress,’ 18
September 2014, http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/vistup-prezidenta-ukrayini-petra-poroshenka-na-spilnij-sesiy-33718.
‘President: New Military Doctrine is based on the duration of threat from Russia and demands full compatibility of the Armed
Forces with NATO standards,’ Office of the President of Ukraine, 2 September 2015, http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/
nova-voyenna-doktrina-vihodit-z-trivalosti-zagrozi-z-boku-ro-35907.
Ibid.
Petro Poroshenko. President’s statement on ceasefire from February 15 2015.
Petro Poroshenko. Address by the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko to the Joint Session of the United States Congress
2014.

100

NATO membership’.39 The President asserted that ‘Ukraine is not a NATO member
now. Unfortunately, we are not allies de jure. Yet, de facto we are more than justpartners … Ukraine is the eastern outpost of Euro-Atlantic civilisation, which is
now defending not only sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of ourcountry.’40

5

The Role of Non-state Actors

In the cyber domain, non-state, sometimes anonymous actors can play a significant
role in any conflict. During the Ukraine crisis, numerous groups such as CyberBerkut have positioned themselves as independent, Internet-based guerrillas, andto some degree they have influenced the course of events. In general, there is too
little public information available for analysts to determine if any of these non-state
actors has a direct or indirect government connection.
In Ukraine, one of the most prominent non-state cyber leaders is Eugene
Dokunin, who describes himself as a ‘lone wolf waging a furious battle against thethousands of paid hackers and trolls in Russia’.41 Whereas governments may not
boast about their achievements, rogue actors do. Dokunin’s group claims to haveblocked more than 170 PayPal and other online accounts belonging to separatists,and frozen almost $3 million of their cash. In one attack, they compromised networked printers in separatist regions, forcing them to spew out documents glorifying Ukraine, as well as the popular chant ‘Putin is a dick’, which is sung in footballstadiums across Ukraine’.42 Dokunin reserves some of his ire for the sitting government in Kyiv: ‘The Ukrainian Government hasn’t invested a cent in cyber warfare,even though this is also an information war’.

6

Conclusion

Communication analysis reveals that both Putin and Poroshenko have adopted
similar rhetorical strategies – ‘good vs. evil’ and ‘us vs. them’ – in an effort to rally
citizens around the flag. They emphasise the righteous nature of their cause, theirleadership in working toward a solution, and other countries’ approval of theirpolitical stances. This is an exercise in national identity building, while portraying
the adversary as illegitimate, dangerous, and even terrorist in nature. To resolve the
39
40
41
42

‘Speech by President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko at the session of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine withparticipation of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg,’ Office of the President of Ukraine, 22 September 2015, http://www.
president.gov.ua/en/news/vistup-prezidenta-ukrayini-poporoshenka-na-zasidanni-radi-na-36007.
Petro Poroshenko. Speech by President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko at the session of the National Security and Defense
Council of Ukraine with participation of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, 2015.
Vijai Maheshwari. ‘Ukraine’s Lonely Cyberwarrior vs. Russia,’ The Daily Beast, 18 February 2015, http://www.thedailybeast.
com/articles/2015/02/18/ukraine-s-lonely-cyber-warrior.html.
Ibid.

101

Russia has focussed onnational interests, while
Ukraine has appealed to theinternational community.

situation, Russia has offered its services
as an indispensable negotiator. By contrast, Ukraine has oriented its national
strategy to the West and to NATO. Russia
has focussed on national interests, while
Ukraine has appealed to the international
community for understanding and support.
Even while Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a modern, ‘hot’ military
conflict, its leaders have shed very little light on cyber warfare. Russia has referred toit only in high-level, diplomatic terms. Ukraine, despite the fact that it has suffered
numerous cyber attacks, primarily frames the issue within the larger concept ofhybrid warfare. Neither country denies that cyberspace is now a theatre of warfare,or that it is part of the Ukrainian conflict, but neither has argued that cyberspace isan integral aspect of it. And for the most part, this echoes the sentiments of otherauthors and chapters in this volume.

Chapter 12

Strategic Communications
and Social Media in the
Russia Ukraine Conflict
Elina Lange-Ionatamishvili
Sanda Svetoka
NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence

1

Introduction

The new information environment has changed the nature of warfare. The eventsin south-east Ukraine have demonstrated that a conflict can be won without firinga single shot and some of the key battles can take place in the cyber and communications domains rather than on the land,
air and sea. As Thomas Elkjer Nissen said
Key battles can take place inin his recent book, the internet, cyberthe cyber and communicaspace, and social media can be used totions domains rather thancollect intelligence or even to target peoon the land, air and sea.
ple and organisations. Such tactics may be
employed in isolation, but they are much
more likely to be an integral part of a larger strategy.1
The operation for the take-over of Crimea was a particularly bold example ofan influence operation where the traditional role of conventional forces was mini1

Thomas Elkjer Nissen. #TheWeaponizationOfSocialMedia. @Characteristics_of_ Contemporary_Conflicts. Copenhagen: Royal
Danish Defence College, 2015.

103

mised. As the conflict continues to develop in the east of Ukraine, Russia continues
to exploit the opportunities offered by new technologies and the new information
environment. It does so with the purpose of influencing the hearts and minds of its
audiences: if Russia succeeds in mobilising its supporters, demonising its enemy,
demoralising its enemy’s government and armed forces, and legitimising its own
actions, then really there is no need for conventional fighting in order to subdue
Ukraine.
In the modern-day operations cyberspace plays an increasingly important role.
A targeted attack by an adversary in the cyber environment is often understood as
an attack on the computerised systems which help us run our daily lives and businesses, sustain critical infrastructure and conduct financial transactions amongst
other things. As the former White House advisor Richard Clarke writes, a cyber-attack can mean that these vital systems go down and we see exploding oil refineries,
derailing trains, runaway satellites, food shortages, and much more.2 But what we
do not often realise is that we can be attacked in the cyber environment by an adversary presenting manipulative information to us with the intent to affect our perception of the situation and our decision-making, and provoke some resulting action.
The real-life consequences of this ‘soft’ cyber-attack can be as severe as an attack ona critical infrastructure.

2

Strategic Communications and Cyberspace

Strategic Communications (StratCom) is a mind-set which implies placing communications at the heart of a strategy. It means that our activity is narrative-driven andwe communicate it to different audiences through coordinated words, images anddeeds. Cyberspace plays an increasingly important role in StratCom as our dependency on modern technologies, computer networks and the internet grows day byday. We use it for receiving and conveying information, for coordinating our actions
and also for analysing the environment around us in order to detect and evaluate
potential threats.
Cyberspace is often used in a conflict in order to take out the communications
systems of an adversary. However, the conflict in Ukraine has demonstrated thatcyberspace can also play a role in conducting a narrative-driven operation where
the main targets are not the machines or networks but the minds of the people.
The internet and social media, due to their ability to multiply information athigh speed and at little cost, are increasingly used for propaganda, information warfare, and influence operations, all of which can tangibly change both the perception
and behaviour of the target audience. It is a highly dynamic, user-driven, constantly
changing environment where it is easy to get a message to ‘go viral’, and also difficult2

Richard A. Clarke and Robert Knake. Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do About It. New York:
HarperCollins, 2011.

104

to track the initial source of information, verify its authenticity, and separate factfrom fiction.
With the increasing popularity of social media platforms, the concept of social
cyber attack is gaining traction.3 It allows for a low-cost, speedy way of manipulating society’s perceptions in order to cause disruptive behaviour in real life. The
social cyber attacks observed during the crisis in Ukraine led to an assumption thatat least part of them were implemented in an organised way, as part of a larger influence strategy.

3

Psychological Operations (PSYOPS) and Social Media

Psychological Operations (PSYOPS) is a military activity which is aimed at influencing the perceptions, attitudes and behaviours of target populations. The perception
is usually affected by either emotional appeals or rational arguments, corresponding
to the master narrative, and in social media, where one has to compete with a floodof information and large amounts of information noise, elements like surprise, cognitive dissonance, easily recognisable symbols or some eye-catching techniques areused in order to draw the audience into the PSYOPS product.
In PSYOPS the influence over a target group is often achieved by spreading
rumours. Those can be:• Hate rumours: exploit ingrained dislikes and prejudicesof a target population.
• Fear rumours: exploit a human tendency to believe the worst.
• Hope rumours: exploit wishes for a favourable turn of events.
Modern technology allows particularly easy exploitation of digital material inorder to produce falsified or ambiguous content which can be used for deception
and manipulation. Textual messages (posts, status updates, comments) can also be
crafted according to the same principles.
Social media provides fruitful soil for PSYOPS as it is largely a trust-based network since it is formed on a networks of friends or like-minded group members.
Hence the information coming from an individual or group can be more trusted
than that coming from an official mass-media outlet or government communicators. This trust can be manipulated to achieve particular effects. It allows targetingof groups of people connected by certain social ties which increases the chance ofthe desired effect on perception and behaviour.
It is also very easy to hide the real identity or original source of information onsocial media as well as manipulate digital data such as imagery. Hence the concept
3

Rebecca Goolsby. On Cybersecurity, Crowdsourcing and Social Cyber-Attack. Washington: Wilson Center. U.S. Office of Naval
Research, 2013.

105

of social cyber attack becomes increasingly important as it is based on manipulated
information being spread under false identities to networks of users.

4

Understanding Social Cyber Attacks

A social cyber attack, as defined by Dr Rebecca Goolsby, involves acting under false
pretences or anonymously, by either releasing a manipulated signal into the social
media or by manipulating an existing signal in order to achieve the desired effects:
chaos, panic, mass disorders. This type of cyber attack offers a different view to the
traditional views on attacks in the cyber environment, as the effects of these attacks
are purely psychological.
Spreading rumours is one of the most effective tactics of the social cyber attack,as those can create fear, hate or unfounded hope in the target audience which
will most likely result in real-life action:for example, mass protests, withdrawing
Spreading rumours is one
from banks, or organised attacks onof the most effective tactics money
certain groups or individuals whose imageof social cyber attack.
has been portrayed as the enemy.4
Social cyber attack can also involve
traditional hacking if the information to be manipulated and released needs to beobtained or published this way. Since the concept of the social cyber attack is very
new, it is often difficult to determine what activity should be classified as one. One
might argue that the key component to social cyber attack is the narrative which
drives it. The actions by the pro-Russian ‘Cyber Berkut’ (КиберБеркут) and its
nemesis, the pro-Ukrainian ‘Cyber Hundred’ (Киберсотня) can serve as examples.
Cyber Berkut is frequently in the news, propagating the Russian political narrative as well as hacking both the Ukrainian Government and other countries. The
group successfully attacked and defaced the websites of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation (NATO) and the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (NATO CCD COE), claiming that its activities were in retaliation for NATOsupport for Ukraine.5 However, the key to Cyber Berkut’s activities is the narrative
which it uses to justify and promote its activities. Cyber Berkut claimed credit on its
social networking site VKontakte page for hacking electronic advertising billboardsin the centre of Kyiv prior to a Ukrainian parliamentary election on 24 October
2014, displaying videos of numerous prominent Ukrainian politicians and labellingthem war criminals:2[English translation] ‘We Cyber Berkut intend to use every opportunity to
defend the interests of Ukrainian citizens from the arbitrariness of nationalist
4
5

Ibid.
The post and video can be found here: http://vk.com/wall-67432779_14678

106

fringe and the oligarchic elite …Today, we have used a few dozen billboards
in Kyiv, Ukraine to remind people about the futility of farcical elections …We
reiterate once again that no one will change our lives for us. If the people willcontinue to hope that the authorities in the offices there are people concerned
about the problems of ordinary citizens, Ukraine will be more immersed in
the chaos of civil war. The United States and the West first brought into thegovernment people who are ready to sell our country to please their owners,
and now want to put the same traitors in Parliament. Today, everyone has torealise that his decision depends the future of our country, and the sooner wecrack down on neo-Nazi government and deputies, who are just cashing inon this war, the sooner the country’s peace and order.’This narrative was also spread on social media networks. Analysing this statement, one can identify clear attempts to construe enemy images of the Ukrainian
Government and induce fear in the population by calling it neo-Nazi and threatening chaos and civil war. The hacking of the billboards had no other meaning than to
conduct a social cyber attack by propagating this narrative and spreading rumours
through manipulated information.

5

Social Media in the Russian-Ukrainian Conflict

During the war in Ukraine, social media has become home to intense conflict-related information updates, impassioned arguments, and debate.6 The social media
space has been abused, and pro-Russian forces have given the world a masterclass.
At the beginning of the conflict, we saw strategic communications in action.
Over Twitter and YouTube, unknown attackers released an intercepted phone conversation between the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and Geoffrey Pyatt, the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine.7 In one stroke, the perpetrators sought
to discredit Western policy and to announce their access to Western lines of government communication. Thus we saw both a technical exploit on an information
system and a psychological attack on the West via social media.
During the course of the conflict, Russia’s narrative has been tightly scripted anddisseminated, both on traditional media (in ‘breaking’ and ‘eyewitness’ accounts on
television) and in cyberspace via social media. These venues are mutually reinforcing,encompassing older and younger readers with varying degrees of access to technology. For example, one can no longer watch Ukrainian television in eastern Ukraine;
similarly, Russian television channels are no longer available in western Ukraine.
6
7

See, for example, Irina Anilovskaja. Война: переписка одноклассников, Alfra Reklama, 2014.
Anne Gearan. ‘In recording of U.S. diplomat, blunt talk on Ukraine’ Washington Post, 6 February 2014, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/in-purported-recording-of-us-diplomat-blunt-talk-on-ukraine/2014/02/06/518240a48f4b-11e3-84e1-27626c5ef5fb_story.html.

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On social media, pro-Russian voices have systemically cultivated fear, anxiety,and hate among the ethnically Russian (and other non-Ukrainian populations) of
Ukraine. They have manipulated and distributed images of purported atrocities by
the Ukrainian army, including: mass graves of tortured people, civilians used fororgan trafficking, burning crops to create a famine, recruiting child soldiers, the useof heavy weapons against civilians, and acts of cannibalism.8
Via social media, such information – whether offered with some evidence or
merely in the form of rumours – often criss-crosses the globe in minutes, and awell-organised social media campaign can easily influence a target population’s perceptions and behaviours.
The Latvian media company LETA conducted an analysis of Twitter posts during
the first six months of 2014, and identified an increasing polarisation between
pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian social media users as the conflict escalated, especially following the violence in Odessa.9 The researchers wrote that 12.2% of all
tweets related to the conflict in eastern Ukraine were ‘aggressive’, dominated by
pro-Russian stances, most intense relative to human casualties, and included epithets such as ‘fascist’ and ‘ruscist’.10
The conflict in Ukraine has seen
Numerous social media
numerous social media postings that
postings appear to be dissem- appear to be deliberately disseminatedinated in order to manipulate in order to manipulate people in eastern Ukraine and beyond. During thepeople in eastern Ukraine.
May 2014 violence in Odessa, someone
posted the following to Facebook:[English translation] ‘Hello. My name is Igor Rosovskiy. I am 39 years old.
I live in the city of Odessa. I have worked as an emergency physician for 15
years. Yesterday, as you know, there was a terrible tragedy in our city, somepeople killed other people. They killed them in a brutal way by burningthem alive, not in a drunken stupor, not to get their grandmother’s inheritance, but because they share the political views of nationalists. First theybrutally beat their victims, then burned them alive. As a doctor, I rushed tohelp those whom I could save, but the fighters stopped me. They didn’t letme go to the wounded. One rudely pushed me, promising that I and otherJews would suffer a similar fate. I saw a young man I could have saved if I
could have taken him to the hospital, but my attempts at persuasion were
met with a blow to the face and lost glasses. In fifteen years I have seenmuch, but yesterday I wanted to cry, not from the blows and humiliation,8910More information about the false information related to Russian – Ukrainian can be found at StopFake.org, 21 August 2014,
http://www.stopfake.org/en/russia-s-top-100-lies-about-ukraine/
G.C. ‘Ukraine’s murky inferno: Odessa’s fire examined.’ The Economist Eastern Approaches blog. 8 May 2014, http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2014/05/odessas-fire-examined.
‘Ruscist’ is an invented word with offensive meaning, a combination of the words ‘Russian’ and ‘fascist’.

108but from my helplessness in being unable to do anything. In my city, suchthings did not happen even during the worst times of Nazi occupation. I
wonder why the world is silent.’
The Russian-language social networking website Vkontakte saw more than 5,000
shares of this post within 24 hours, and it was quickly translated into English, German, and Bulgarian. However, analysts subsequently discovered that Dr. Rozovskiy’s profile picture was actually that of a dentist from the North Caucasus, and now
believe this social media post to be a hoax.11
On 4 June 2014, Pavel Astakhov, the Children’s Ombudsman under the Presidentof the Russian Federation, announced on his Instagram account that ‘more than 7,000’
Ukrainian refugees had fled Ukraine and arrived in the Rostov Oblast in the previous
24 hours. The next day, that number had risen to 8,386. Russian mass media reported
these numbers, but Rostov authorities apparently contradicted them, where the Governor’s office reported that the number of refugees did not exceed 712.12
In July 2014, 3-year-old boy was allegedly tortured and crucified by the Ukrainian
military in a public square in Slovyansk, Ukraine. The Russian state-run TV Channel
One broadcast the ‘eyewitness’ testimony of Galina Pyshnyak, who stated that she andothers were forcibly brought to the central square to witness the public execution. Theinterview took place at a refugee camp in Russia’s Rostov region and was widely disseminated on social media.13 However, Russian journalist Yevgeny Feldman of Novaya
Gazeta, as well as journalists from Russia’s independent channel Dozhd, challenged
the report with contradictory testimonies from multiple interviews in Slovyank, inwhich numerous residents denied any knowledge of the incident.14
Throughout 2014, the list of rumours from eastern Ukraine grew to be quite
long: the Kyiv government and European Union were building concentration
camps; the forest was full of right-wing killers; the May 9 Victory Day holiday had
been cancelled;15 property would be confiscated; and use of the Russian language
was prohibited. On one occasion, terrified locals called the Donbas Water Company
after social media informed them that the region’s water supply had been poisoned.16
These stories can be contrasted with the ‘Polite People’ campaign on Vkontakte,
which supported the Russian invasion of Crimea with pictures of Russian troops
posing alongside girls, mothers with children, the elderly, and pets.17
11
12
13
14
15
16
17

‘Odesa Doctor Or Random Dentist? Claims Of Atrocities, Anti-Semitism Face Scrutiny,’ Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 27
June 2015, http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-unspun-odesa-doctor-dentist-false-claim/25372684.html.
‘Rostov officials refuted information about thousands of Ukrainian refugees,’ StopFake.org, 6 June 2014, http://www.stopfake.
org/en/rostov-officials-refuted-information-about-thousands-of-ukrainian-refugees/.
‘Беженка из Славянска вспоминает, как при ней казнили маленького сына и жену ополченца,’ Первый канал, 12 July
2014, http://www.1tv.ru/news/world/262978.
Евгений Фельдман, Жители Славянска – о том, был ли распятый мальчик Первого канала на самом деле (w/eng subs),
13 July 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA1LE6iKMfk.
Lily Hyde, ‘Rumors and disinformation push Donetsk residents into wartime siege mentality,’ Kyiv Post, 3 May 2014, http://
www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine-abroad/rumors-and-disinformation-push-donetsk-residents-into-wartime-siege-mentality-346131.html.
Ibid.
NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence. Analysis of Russia’s Information Campaign against Ukraine, 2014.

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6

Troll Farming

Who tweets in support of politics? Who posts Facebook updates in support ofmilitary operations? Of course, there are millions of true believers in the world,adherents to every cause under the sun. However, it is also possible to fabricate
support for anything, especially in cyberspace. The social media offers great
opportunities for state and non-state actors to use fake identities or automatically generated accounts to disseminate their narrative to audiences as widely
as possible.
On 24 May 2014, hacked and leaked email correspondence (revealed on b0ltai.
org) allegedly from a company called the ‘Internet Research Agency’ in St. Petersburg, Russia, offered evidence of the existence of a professional ‘troll farm’, including
the firm’s relationship to the Russian Government. Media reports suggested that
recruitment of employees had occurred prior to the onset of military operations,and that workers were tasked with writing 100 internet posts per day.18
For strategic communications, these developments are critical to understanding modern information operations including disinformation and PSYOPS, as awell-orchestrated social media campaign could significantly affect the prevailingpolitical narrative.
It is possible to analyse the social media domain in an effort to separate factfrom fiction, to investigate when accounts were created, whether they have credible
content or a real networks of real friends, but to do this accurately and in a timely
manner is an extraordinary challenge for anyone, including law enforcement andcounterintelligence organisations.19

7

Conclusion

The suspicious and seemingly targeted use of social media in the Russian-Ukrainian
conflict offers considerable evidence that social media is being extensively used tosupport military actions on the ground. To
Social media is extensively some degree, the information operations
have generated fear, uncertainty, and doubt
used to support military
about the economic, cultural, and national
actions on the ground.
security of Ukraine, especially in the eastern
provinces where there are strong historical ties to Russia.
The goal of these social media operations may be to convince Ukrainians that
the Euromaidan movement has led only to political chaos in the country, and has
not been in Ukraine’s best long-term interests. This message can be contrasted with18
19

Александра Гармажапова, ’Где живут тролли. И кто их кормит’, Novaya Gazeta, September 9, 2013, http://www.novayagazeta.ru/politics/59889.html.
Kenneth Geers and Roelof Temmingh. ‘Virtual Plots, Real Revolution,’ The Virtual Battlefield: Perspectives on Cyber Warfare,ed. Kenneth Geers and Christian Czosseck, 294-302 (Tallinn: NATO CCD COE, 2009).

110

some examples of social media commentary from Crimea: that its incorporation
into Russia has led to safety and stability on the Crimean peninsula.
The use of cyberspace both to attack the infrastructure and to influence ‘people’s hearts and minds’ is a new phenomenon that has been increasingly used inrecent conflicts to support military operations on the ground. This kind of warfare
will not disappear; on the contrary the combination of actions which are targeted
at infrastructure and human psychology will be used in more sophisticated andunpredictable ways in the future. A three step approach could be recommended for
security experts and national decision makers to prepare better to meet these kindof challenges:
Identify. Governments and defence organisations should enhancetheir capabilities to identify the detrimental use of social media. Information campaigns which entail propaganda and automated or fakeaccounts to rapidly disseminate information should be closely monitored and analysed. This also includes additional efforts in order tounderstand how these campaigns are organised and what effects they
can have on public perception.
Challenge. Examples by citizen journalists have shown that revealing
false facts to the public is an effective approach in mitigating the effects
of disinformation. At the same time it is important not to engage incounter-propaganda as this fuels the information war and creates
public distrust rather than diminishing the power of misinformation.
Humour perhaps could be more helpful in countering aggressive propaganda as it hampers the ability to achieve its aim – subduing thesociety of the target country. The initiatives in Twitter like @DarthPutinKGB or @Sputnik_Intl are good examples of how to challenge
Russia’s disinformation campaign with irony and jokes.
Learn and prepare. The development of the unifying strategic narrative – the story which entails the set of the values and beliefs ofyour country or organisation – is the best defence against propaganda
which questions them. A long-term educational effort to enhance critical thinking and media (including social media) literacy would also
contribute greatly to society’s self-defence against manipulation.

Chapter 13

Ukraine: A Cyber Safe Haven?
Nadiya Kostyuk
University of Michigan

1Introduction

Since the end of the Cold War, there has been a proliferation in online criminal
activity in Eastern Europe, and Ukraine is no exception. Famous for its hacker community, Ukraine ranks among the Top 10 countries in the world in cyber crime1 andnumber 15 as a source of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.2 In 2012,
five Ukrainian nationals stole more than $72 million from U.S. bank accounts;3 in
2013, Ukrainian hackers stole 40 million sets of debit and credit card details fromthe US retail chain Target;4 in 2014, the RAND Corporation wrote that Russian
and Ukrainian (the primary language of Ukraine) were the lingua franca of online
hacker forums.5 In this light, it is natural to wonder if Ukraine is today a safe havenfor cyber criminals.
To be sure, there have been some law enforcement successes, such as whennumerous European countries and Europol (with the aid of the Ukrainian government) arrested five hackers who stole at least €2 million from banks all around theworld.6 However, there are major countervailing factors at play in Ukraine, which
include ongoing political, military, and economic crises and the absence of zhyvoii
1
2
3
4
5
6

Victor Zhora, e-mail to the author, July 30, 2015.
‘Украина вошла в рейтинг стран с наибольшим количеством DDoS-атак.’ Minfin, June 8, 2015.http://minfin.com.
ua/2015/06/08/7407564/.
Taylor Armerding. ‘Ukraine Seen as a Growing ‘haven for Hackers’ March 13, 2012. http://www.csoonline.com/article/2131155/network-security/ukraine-seen-as-a-growing--haven-for-hackers-.html.
Charles Riley and Jose Pagliery. ‘Target Will Pay Hack Victims $10 Million.’ CNNMoney. March 19, 2015. http://money.cnn.
com/2015/03/19/technology/security/target-data-hack-settlement/.
Lillian Ablon, Martin C. Libicki, and Andrea A. Golay. Markets for Cybercrime Tools and Stolen Data: Hackers’ Bazaar. Rand
Corporation, 2014.
Supra, note 4.

113

potreby (urgent need),7 which together provide little hope that Ukraine will be able
to climb down from its perch atop the world’s cyber crime ladder in the near future.
In many ways, Ukraine is a perfect case study to examine the vexing dynamics ofcyber crime. Its government has few cyber security regulations, its society is home
to talented computer programmers, and its
economy is struggling. This chapter begins
In many ways, Ukrainewith a brief description of Ukraine’s current
is a perfect case study
cyber crisis, to include the primary reasons
to examine the vexing
why cyber crime flourishes there. Next, it disdynamics of cyber crime. cusses the future of the region based on interviews with Ukrainian and Western cybersecurity experts from public and private sectors and academia. Finally, the chapter
ends with recommendations based on best practices in cyber security – all of which
can help Kyiv to improve its cyber security posture. Beyond Ukraine, these insights
can be applied to numerous other countries in the region.

2

Ukraine as a Cyber Safe Haven

Once the internet conquered post-Soviet daily life, many talented computer programmers who had already dabbled in illegal activities such as stealing music andmovies realised that they could make a living as professional hackers. There were
few cyber security regulations in Ukraine and so, as in so many other countries,
cyber crime quickly evolved from a mischievous hobby to a lucrative occupation.8
Several factors contributed to making Ukraine a cyber safe haven. First, its
Soviet school STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) educationis among the best in the world. Second, its underwhelming economic performancesince independence in 1991 has led these STEM specialists to explore alternative
career paths, often online. Third, Ukraine’s social and cultural norms dictate thatstealing from the West is not always a bad thing. This factor is compounded by the
relatively impersonal nature of cyberspace.9
At the policy level, ‘cyber crimes’ such as stealing intellectual property andcopyright infringement were not even considered illegal in Ukraine until recently.
For instance, the popular Russian social media website vkontakte.ru used to bea source of large-scale music and movie piracy.10 Ukraine recently has begun todevelop a common lexicon on cyber security (a pre-requisite for progress in this

7
8
9
10

Vlad Styran, Skype interview, July 6, 2015.
Supra, note 5.
The author can testify through personal experience.
Kathryn Dowling. ‘VKontakte Case Puts Russian Music Piracy into Spotlight.’ August 11, 2014. http://www.bbc.com/news/
business-28739602.

114

new domain),11 but the multiple cyber units within the Ukrainian government12 stilltend to operate independently, and rarely collaborate.13 Moreover, as in other Eastern European countries, government employees are poorly paid and lack resources,
which in turn motivates skilled specialists to leave for the private sector. Finally, due
to the high level of corruption in Ukraine, even when a cyber criminal is caught, heor she can usually bribe an official to have the charges reduced or dropped.14

3

Ukraine as a Cyber Target

Even though Ukraine is not a rich country and is relatively new to online banking,its enterprises nonetheless lost ₴65 million15 to cybercrime in 2014.16 The origin of
these attacks is unclear, but numerous interviewees agreed that the cyber criminals
were not physically located in Ukraine. Most likely, they would follow the hacker’s first ‘zapovid’’ (‘commandment’), the so-called ‘gypsy’ rule: ‘tam de zhyvesh,
tam ne kradesh’ (‘you do not steal in the place where you live’).17 When asked
whether Russia could be a source of such attacks, Vlad Styran, an information
security consultant at Berezha Security, answered affirmatively, but explained thatsome groups originally operating from Russia have moved to Ukraine, mostly tothe self-proclaimed Donetsk National Republic (DNR) and the Luhansk National
Republic (LNR).18 However, these groups may not be attacking Ukraine directly,
but Western countries farther afield, similar to online criminals in Romania, Turkey, and Belarus.19 In Ukraine, the domestic climate, technical capabilities, andresources are better suited to criminals who engage in credit card fraud,20 andas long as they steal money in small amounts, no one will touch them.21 Cybercriminals physically based in Ukraine have also begun to look for more comfortable conditions in which to operate, as Ukrainian law enforcement agencies havebegun to collaborate with Western agencies.22 Thus the number of cyber criminals
in Ukraine may finally be declining.23
The conflict in eastern Ukraine has given rise to numerous high-level cyberattacks. As part of its military operations, Russia has used cyber warfare tactics against
Ukrainian websites, some of which are physically hosted in Ukraine, while some are
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23

Oleksandr V. Potii, Oleksandr V. Korneyko, and Yurii I. Gorbenko. ‘Cybersecurity in Ukraine: Problems and Perspectives.’
Information and Security: An International Journal 32 (2015): 2.
More detailed description will be provided later
Kostiantyn Kosrun, Skype Interview, July 6, 2015.
Glib Pakharenko, Interview, June 29, 2015.
₴ – Hryvnia – Ukrainian unit of currency.
As mentioned by Guzii who works at the MVD department that deals with card (credit and debit) fraud operations.
Supra, note 14; supra, note 7.
The interviewee referred to the fact that it became quite hard for hackers to operate in Russia without being under constantgovernment control.
Supra, note 7.
Glib Pakharenko, e-mail to the author, July 5, 2015.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.

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not.24 National Security Agency (NSA) Director Vice Admiral Michael Rogers statedthat Russia conducted cyber operations to support its Crimea conquest.25 Independent researchers also discovered a cyber espionage operation called Armageddonthat was designed to provide a ‘military advantage to Russian leadership by targeting
Ukrainian government and law enforcement agencies’,26 and included DDoS attacks
against Ukrainian and NATO media outlets, and targeted attacks against Ukrainian
election commission websites.27 In all, hackers hit Ukrainian government, business,
online media, and e-commerce sites.28 Finally, it should be noted in this context thatUkraine’s information and telecommunication networks generally use Russian hardware and software, a situation that would significantly help Russia to spy on its southern neighbour.29

4

Ukraine’s Cyber Security Agenda

While cyber crime has flourished in Ukraine, the same cannot be said for the development of Kyiv’s cyber security policy, which is simply not currently a high priority.
In Ukraine, only 41.8% of the population is now online, compared to 84.2% in the
United States and 61.4% in Russia.30 Furthermore, the majority of Ukrainian internet
While cyber crime hasflourished in Ukraine, the connectivity lies in the country’s major cities
and very few electronic devices are used forsame cannot be said foronline financial transactions.
the development of Kyiv’s
Currently, there is little cyber security legislation in Ukraine. The more prominent laws
cyber security policy.
include ‘On Information,’ ‘On State Secrets,’‘On Data Protection in Information and Telecommunication Systems,’ ‘On the National
Security of Ukraine,’ and ‘On State Service for Special Communication and Information
Protection of Ukraine.’ In 2012, Parliament began to propose amendments to these laws.
Today, there is an increasing focus on cyber crime awareness, and the government is in
the process of creating a new ministry devoted to information technology (IT).
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

Sam Jones. ‘Ukraine PM’s Office Hit by Cyber Attack Linked to Russia.’ Financial Times, August 7, 2014. http://www.ft.com/
intl/cms/s/0/2352681e-1e55-11e4-9513-00144feabdc0.html.
Bill Gertz. ‘Inside the Ring: Cybercom’s Michael Rogers Confirms Russia Conducted Cyberattacks against Ukraine.’ Washington Times, March 12, 2014. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/12/inside-the-ring-cybercoms-michael-rogersconfirms-/?page=all.
‘LookingGlass Cyber Threat Intelligence Group Links Russia to Cyber Espionage Campaign Targeting Ukrainian Government
and Military Officials.’ Looking Glass, April 29, 2015.
Tony Martin-Vegue. ‘Are We Witnessing a Cyber War between Russia and Ukraine? Don’t Blink – You Might Miss It.’ CSO
Online, April 24, 2015. http://www.csoonline.com/article/2913743/cyber-attacks-espionage/are-we-witnessing-a-cyber-warbetween-russia-and-ukraine-dont-blink-you-might-miss-it.html.
Primarily with DDoS attacks from supra, note 11.
For example, via Russia’s Система Оперативно-Розыскных Мероприятий, or ‘System for Operative Investigative Activities’,
a technical system run by the Russian security services to search and surveil telephone and Internet communications. Supra,note 11, page 2; Andrei Soldatov, Skype interview, July 15, 2015.
‘Online Panel Ukraine and Online Data Collection Ukraine | DataDiggers Online Data Collection.’ DataDiggers Online Data
Collection. July 27, 2015. http://www.datadiggers.ro/?page_id=75217.

116

Victor Zhora, CEO and Co-Founder at Infosafe IT LLC, contends that a major
problem with existing Ukrainian legislation is the lack of a clear definition for cybercrime. The only operational definition is in Article 361 of the Criminal Codex of
Ukraine: ‘Illegal interference with the operation of computers (PCs), automatedsystems, computer networks or telecommunications networks’.31 However, it is notclear what ‘illegal interference’ actually means.
Recently, lawmakers have considered new legislation – the ‘Cybersecurity Law of
Ukraine’ – which seeks to: update existing laws; create conditions for cooperation between
the private and publics sectors; protect critical information infrastructure; develop a comprehensive legal framework; build a secure national security network; educate futurespecialists; fight cyber crime and cyber terrorism; strengthen the state’s defence in cyberspace; prevent other states from interfering in Ukraine’s internal affairs; neutralise attacks
on Ukraine’s information resources; and ensure Ukraine’s full participation in European
and regional cybersecurity organisations. 32 However, such a comprehensive agenda faces
numerous acute challenges before it can be properly implemented.33
For example, ‘the strategy of creating a secure national segment of cyberspace’ lacks aworking definition of critical national infrastructure (CNI), as well as a valid list of CNI.
At this stage in Ukraine’s economic development, there is little CNI with internet-based
management, but that number is beginning to rise.34 Another example is ‘ensuring fullparticipation of Ukraine in European and regional systems’. Although Ukrainian cybersecurity experts already share information and intelligence with Western colleagues, thiscollaboration is not nearly as effective as it could
For the foreseeable future,be, because the West does not yet ‘respect [them]
Ukrainian CNI will rely
and do not share information with [them].’35
It is debatable, given the ongoing war inon reasonably sound prieastern Ukraine, how urgent this process is,vate sector approaches.
especially given that all countries are currently struggling to protect CNI. Even if adopted, the draft Cybersecurity Law of
Ukraine will take years to fully implement.36 Therefore, for the foreseeable future,
Ukrainian CNI such as telecoms,37 banks,38 and insurance companies39 will rely on
reasonably sound private sector approaches to their cyber security challenges.40
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40

‘Несанкцiоноване втручання в роботу електронно-обчислювальних машин (комп’ютерів), автоматизованих систем,комп’ютерних мереж чи мереж електрозв’явку; supra, note 1.
Supra, note 11, figure 1-1.
Some of those challenges were mentioned earlier.
Ukraine’s CNI objects are not controlled via the Internet, as mentioned in the skype interview with Vlad Styran on July 6, 2015
(Supra, note 7).
Supra, note 14.
Its implementation has three stages: 1) 2014-2016; 2) 2016-2017; and 3) 2017 – the following years.
Telecom operators are mostly protected as a huge portion of the population uses these services. They do no necessarily sufferfrom cyber attacks but they suffer from their clients’ abuse of the system. From supra, note 7.
Banks are in second place in terms of protection and in first place in terms of damage.. It is quite a new trend in Ukraine as banks
mostly operate using their clients’ money. Last year, we witnessed the first cyber attacks on Ukrainian banks. From supra, note 7.
Insurance companies take the third place on the level of protection. They are active in protecting their companies from cyberattacks not because they are subjects to those attacks, but mostly because they are part of some international group, which
requires them to follow the EU or U.S. requirements or because they need to create their image. Supra, note 7.
Ibid.

117

Council of National
Security and Defence

The Ministry of Defenseof Ukraine
Ministry of Internal
Affairs of Ukraine

The President of Ukraine

Verkovna Radaof Ukraine

Security Serviceof UkraineSSSCIP of Ukraine

Intelligence Agencies

Figure 1‑1 – Organisation of the cyber security system of Ukraine

5

Cybersecurity Organisations

Figure 1‑1 depicts Ukraine’s governmental organisations that deal with cybercrime: the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU); the State Service of Special Communication and Information Protection of Ukraine (SSSCIP); the Ministry of International Affairs of Ukraine (MVS) with its Department on Combating Cybercrimes;
the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (MO) with its Electronic Warfare Troops; theDefence Intelligence Service; and the Foreign Intelligence Service.41 These agencies, of course, have different domains and priorities, and they rarely collaborate oncommon problems.42 For example, MVD cyber units have a difficult time working
with the SBU, which does not focus on external affairs, a crucial element in locating international hackers.43 Glib Pakharenko, the ISACA Kyiv Chapter membershipdirector, said: ‘When NATO meets with various cyber forces in Ukraine, they only
observe how these forces fight with each other and blame each other for failures’.44
SSSCIP is the only organisation that works exclusively on cyber security issues.
Its main activities include: ‘interaction with the administration domain UA.; protection of state information resources; interaction with state authorities; international
cooperation in the protection of information resources; unified antivirus protection
system; and determining the level of protection of information and telecommunication authorities’ systems.’45 SSSCIP has numerous internal offices, including theCentre for Antivirus Information Protection (CAIP),46 the Assessment of Protectionof State Information Resources, the Cybernetic Protection System, and the Registry
41
42
43
44
45
46

Supra, note 11.
Supra, note 7.
Ibid.
Supra, note 7.
Supra, note 39.
Supra, note 11.

118

of Information and Telecommunication Authorities’ Systems. Its Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA) handles international cooperation.
Each agency faces its own unique challenges and suffers from its own, uniquecriticism. For example, one interviewee said of CERT-UA: ‘[its specialists] just visit
Europe and tell [the Europeans] how amazing they are. They [only] do PR and makecontacts in Ukraine and abroad.’47 Others, however, disagreed, arguing that in 2013
CERT-UA processed 232 incident reports
from foreign CERTs48 and was ‘quite effective’
CERT-UA’s bigger probdespite ‘significantly limited powers’, a lacklem is the country’sof qualified specialists, insufficient resources,
almost exclusive focus on
and a low level of outside trust.49 Two interviewees, Kostiantyn Korsun of Berezha Secufighting Russian aggresrity and Glib Pakharenko of ISACA Kyiv,
sion in eastern Ukraine.
added that CERT-UA’s bigger problem is thecountry’s almost exclusive current focus on fighting Russian aggression in eastern
Ukraine.50
At the MVD, Vasyl Guzii, a specialist in kartkove shakhraistvo (credit card fraud
operations), asserted that no ‘sdelka iz pravosudiiem’ (‘deal with law enforcement agencies’ in Russian) exists in Ukraine.51 However, Styran was not so sure, suggesting that‘verbyvannia’ (‘recruitment’) was common.52 In effect, this means that instead of arresting hackers, law enforcement agencies simply offer krysha (protection)53 in exchange
for future favours.54 The overall level of corruption in Ukraine is high, even at the SBU.55
Despite everything, there is progress to report. Beyond the new draft law on
cyber security and the proposed new IT ministry56 Ukraine is setting up an Interagency Board57 to counter strategic cyber threats (see Figure 1‑2). This initiative willof course take time to blossom, and there are already doubts about technical talent,bureaucratic implementation, and overall SBU power in this new initiative.58 So, forthe time being, it is likely that the Ukrainian government will continue to rely on
an approach favoured in the United Kingdom: pereklastu or delegating many cybercrime-related tasks, including client protection, to the private sector.59
47
48
49

50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59

Supra, note 7.
Supra note, 11.
“незважаючи на суттєве обмеження повноважень в сфері розслідування комп’ютерних злочинів (це не належить доїхньої компетенції), відсутність достатньої кількості кваліфікованих фахівців, недостатні матеріальну базу та рівень
фінансового забезпечення, низький рівень довіри з боку як бізнес-структур, так навіть і органів державної влади.”Supra, note 1.
However, Korsun pointed out that nearly all countries – especially in Eastern Europe – face the same challenges of low salaries
and poor skillsets. He added that the SBU, in this regard, is not so different to CERT-UA. Supra, note 13.
Vlad Styran. ‘Securit13 Podcast : Эпизод 30: Let the Magic Begin.’ March 20, 2015. http://securit13.libsyn.com/-30-let-themagic-begin.
Supra, note 7.
‘Roofing’ means that the law enforcement agencies do not pay attention to criminal’s misbehavior in exchange for favors.
Supra, note 14.
Ibid.
Ol’ha Karpenko. ‘В Украине создадут министерство IT.’ AIN, June 18, 2015. http://ain.ua/2015/06/18/586897.
Supra, note 11.
Филипповский, Игорь. ЛIГАБiзнесIнформ, June 25, 2015. http://biz.liga.net/all/it/stati/3046442-deputaty-doshli-do-interneta-est-zakonoproekt-o-kibeprostranstve.htm.
Supra, note 7.

119Verkhovna Radaof Ukraine

Council of National
Security and Defense

The Presidentof Ukraine

Security Serviceof Ukraine

The Prime Ministerof Ukraine

Interagency Board on
countering cyber threatsSSSCIP of Ukraine
Ministry of Internal
Affairs of Ukraine
The Ministry of
Defense of Ukraine
The General Staffof the Armed Forcesof Ukraine
State Agency
of Cybersecurity

Figure 1‑2 – Proposed organisation of Ukraine’s system for cyber security

6

Recommendations

The following ‘best practices’ could significantly strengthen Ukraine’s cyber security
posture for the future.
6.1 National• Metrics. Analysts believe that cyber crime is rife in Ukraine, but there
are no accurate measurements or reliable studies that have documented this problem. Some Western60 and Ukrainian companies61 arenow addressing this issue, but without better data and analysis, it ishard to separate fact from fiction.
• Prevention. Until Ukraine invests more in proactive cyber defence,
it will remain in a reactive mode vis-à-vis cyber criminals, a serious
problem in the age of light-speed communications.
60
61

Such as RAND.
Supra, note 14.

120• Corruption. Ukraine must address bribes, protection,62 and the unethical recruitment of hackers. In one infamous case, a fraudulent cybercrime ‘call centre’, which in fact was used to steal credit card information, actually operated from a Ukrainian prison.63• Culture. Ukraine must promote cyber crime awareness and enforce
existing law. Ukrainian citizens must recognise that stealing moneyfrom the West is against the law, and they must be willing to reportsuch crimes to law enforcement.64• Education. Kyiv must invest in the academic side of cyber security, toinclude software engineering, critical infrastructure protection, andmore.65 Some steps have already been taken, including the creationof kiberpolitseiski (cyber police) departments at the Kyiv and Kharkiv
MVD Institutes;66 further, the MVD has collaborated with various
departments of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (KPI). The Science Parkof the KPI promotes science-intensive products on domestic and foreign markets that provide better cybersecurity solutions. 67,68• Civil Society. The Ukrainian Government requires pressure from below
to assist in the implementation of so many needed changes. Even fromabroad, the Ukrainian diaspora can help.
• Oversight. Ukrainian lawmakers often receive foreign assistance tohelp the country adopt and implement reform, but currently there isno effective oversight body helping to manage this process.69• Public sector labour force. The Ukrainian government must find away to hire qualified cyber security professionals and retain them withquality training and attractive salaries. It must be said that this challenge is not unique to Ukraine.70
6.2 Regional and International• Collaboration. Ukrainian cyber security institutions must develop ahigher level of trust with their international counterparts, especially in
the West. This begins with practical cooperation on current high-interest criminal cases, to include resource and information sharing. In thepast, such collaboration has not always been effective, and sometimes
never occurred at all.71 Points of departure include Mutual Legal Assis62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71

Ibid.
Supra, note 7.
These two measures will be discussed later.
So far, eighteen universities carry out training specialists in information security on bachelor’s and master’s levels in Ukraine.
From: Standards of higher education 1701 ‘Information Security,’ accessed on July 21, 2015, http://iszzi.kpi.ua/index.php/ua/
biblioteka/normativno-pravova-baza/nmk-informatsijna-bezpeka.html .
Supra, note 50.
Ibid.
‘Science Park ‘Kyivska Polytechnika’.’ Accessed September 1, 2015.
Supra, note 7.
Supra, note 14.
Ibid.

121

tance Treaties (MLAT) and the European Convention on Cybercrime
which Ukraine ratified in 2005.
• Western Assistance. Most of the digital equipment in Ukraine was
manufactured in Russia, so there is an urgent need for EU and NATOnations to assist Ukraine in replacing it. Some concrete steps havealready been taken: NATO has allocated funds for Ukraine’s ‘cyberdefences, command and control structures, and logistics capabilities’;72
Microsoft announced a partnership with the Ukrainian Government on cyber security;73 U.S. Senators Mark Kirk and Mark Warner
announced a ‘bipartisan amendment creating a law enforcement partnership between the United States and Ukraine to combat cybercrimeand improve cybersecurity’;74 and Romania launched an initiative tosupport the Ukraine Cyber Defence Trust Fund.75• Cyber security strategy. Ukraine must harmonise its cyber security policies and legislation with those of the most technologically advanced
members of the international community. The European Network andInformation Security Agency (ENISA) has a strong record of providing guidance in cyber security policy development and best practices;
Ukraine should take full advantage of this resource.

7

Conclusion

Ukraine, with its talented hackers and minimal cyber security regulations, is a perfect case study to examine the many challenges that Eastern European countries
face as they seek to improve their cyber security posture. Ukraine has more than enoughUkraine has more thanexpertise, but it must be refocused andenough STEM expertise, STEM
repurposed toward a more transparent andbut it must be refocused
accountable legal and cultural online environment. The development of Ukrainian civil
and repurposed.
society can accomplish all of these objectives,
but the international community – including the Ukrainian diaspora – can help
Kyiv to realise them much more quickly. Unfortunately, however, Ukraine’s current
political, economic, and military crises are likely to prevent it from climbing down
the world’s cyber crime ladder in the near term.
72
73
74
75

Andrew Rettman. ‘Mr. Putin Isn’t Done in East Ukraine.’ EUObserver, June 26, 2015. https://euobserver.com/defence/129317.
‘Ukrainian Government Partners with Microsoft on Cyber Security.’ Ukrainian Digital News, April 7, 2015. http://uadn.
net/2015/04/07/ukrainian-government-partners-with-microsoft-on-cyber-security/.
‘Kirk, Warner to Introduce Cybersecurity Amendment to Ukrainian Aid Bill on Monday.’ Kirk Senate. March 23, 2014. http://
www.kirk.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1033.
‘Romania Turns Hacking Crisis into Advantage, Helping Ukraine Fight Russian Cyber Espionage.’ Azerbaijan State News Agency, May 18, 2015. http://azertag.az/en/xeber/Romania_turns_hacking_crisis_into_advantage_helping_Ukraine_fight_Russian_cyber_espionage-855844.

Chapter 14

A Legal Framework
for Cyber Operations
in Ukraine
Jan Stinissen
NATO CCD COE

1Introduction

Do the cyber attacks that we have seen during the Ukraine conflict constitute cyberwar? This chapter considers this question from a legal perspective. The term ‘cyberwar’ has no precise legal meaning. Even the term ‘war’ is less important than it used
to be. Contemporary international law distinguishes ‘armed conflict’, ‘armed attack’,and ‘use of force’, but the question is how to place cyber conflict into that framework. In Ukraine, are we seeing ‘cyber armed conflict’ or merely cyber crime?
Cyber operations have to be considered within the context of the whole conflict.
Although cyber can be used as stand-alone operation, the more likely case – andthis holds true in Ukraine – is that cyber is used as a facilitator for other, more
traditional types of warfare. The law applicable to the conflict as a whole should
be applied to the cyber activities that are part of it. In other words, the wider context determines the legal framework for cyber operations. Particularly relevant iswhether the conflict in Ukraine is an ‘armed conflict’ that leads to the application of
the Law of Armed Conflict (or international humanitarian law).
This chapter will first briefly outline the applicability of international law tocyberspace. Then it will describe the legal framework of the conflict, related to thesubsequent phases of the conflict, from the protests at Maidan Square in November
2013 to the present day. After that, the associated cyber activities will be placed inthis legal context.

123

2

International Law and Cyber Operations

The applicability of international law to cyberspace has long been debated. Most
Western countries posit that existing international law applies. Some countries,
such as China and Russia, have proposed a unique and separate set of norms.1
Today, it is generally recognised that international law applies, which is illustrated
by the 2013 report of the Governmental Group of Experts, established by the United
Nations (UN) General Assembly. It states that ‘International law, and in particular
the Charter of the United Nations, is applicable and is essential to maintaining peaceand stability and promoting an open, secure, peaceful and accessible ICT environment.’2 However, the better question now concerns exactly how to apply international law in the cyber domain, and this is not a debate that will be resolved in
the near future.3 NATO ‘recognises that international law, including international
humanitarian law and the UN Charter, applies in cyberspace’.4 It also considers
cyber defence to be an intrinsic part of its collective defence task, and has declaredthat a cyber attack could have the impact as harmful as a conventional armed attack,which could lead to the invocation of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.5
In this chapter, the author takes as a premise that existing international law
applies to cyberspace.

3

Legal Framework for the Conflict in Ukraine
Cyber activities conducted
as part of a wider conflictare governed by that conflict’s legal framework.

1
2

3

4
5

Cyber activities conducted as part of a wider
conflict are governed by that conflict’s legal
framework. This section will describe thewider conflict in Ukraine. Section 1.4 will
examine specific cyber incidents and how
they fit into the larger legal puzzle.

United Nations, General Assembly, Letter Dated 9 January 2015 from the Permanent Representatives of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to the United Nations Addressed to the Secretary-General, A/69/723,
2015. An earlier version was submitted in September 2011.
United Nations, General Assembly, Report of the Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security, A/68/98, 24 June 2013. The Group consisted of representatives of 15 nations, including the United States, Russia, and China. In their Report of July 2015, the GGE recommended a
set of norms of behavior of states in cyberspace. For an analysis of this report, see Henry Rõigas and Tomáš Minárik. ‘2015 UN
GGE Report: Major Players Recommending Norms of Behaviour, Highlighting Aspects of International Law’, INCYDER database , NATO CCD COE, 31 August 2015, https://ccdcoe.org/2015-un-gge-report-major-players-recommending-norms-behaviour-highlighting-aspects-international-l-0.html.
One of the prominent publications in this field is the Tallinn Manual. It discusses applicability of international law to cyber
warfare, in particular the legal framework for the use of force and the law of armed conflict. The Tallinn Manual is preparedby an international group of experts on the invitation by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, Tallinn,
Estonia: Michael N. Schmitt, gen. ed., Tallinn Manual on International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013). Currently the Manual is under revision, a project coined Tallinn 2.0, including an analysis ofinternational law applicable to cyber operations below the threshold of armed attack.
Wales Summit Declaration, 5 September 2014, para 72.
NATO’s fundamental principle which states that ‘if a NATO Ally is the victim of an armed attack, each and every other member of the Alliance will consider this act of violence as an armed attack against all members and will take the actions it deems
necessary to assist the Ally attacked,’ ‘What is Article 5?’, NATO, last updated 18 February 2005, http://www.nato.int/terrorism/five.htm.

124

3.1 Euromaidan (November 2013 – February 2014)
A few weeks before the European Union (EU) Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 27-28 November 2013, during which the Ukraine – EU Association Agreement was to be signed, tensions in Ukraine were rising between those infavour and those opposed to closer relations with the EU. On 21 November, President Viktor Yanukovych decided to abandon the Association Agreement. This wasfollowed by massive pro-EU demonstrations in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv. The clashes with the authorities grew violent. By mid-February, the events had escalated significantly, and had taken over 100 lives.
Before the Euromaidan protests began, tensions in Ukraine had already triggered hostile activity in cyberspace. Politically motivated hacker groups launched
Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) and other cyber attacks against a wide rangeof targets. On 28 October, the hacker group ‘Anonymous Ukraine’ started ‘Operation Independence’ (#OpIndependence), favouring Ukraine’s independence fromany external influence, including the EU, NATO, and Russia.6 Operation Independence included DDoS attacks and website defacements against both Western andRussian sites. During Euromaidan DDoS attacks and defacements against bothsides continued. Information leaks were used for propaganda purposes. Operation
Independence leaked emails from opposition leader Vitali Klitchko and his politicalparty, the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reforms. Unknown hackers leaked
the U.S. officials’ phone call which included the infamous statement, ‘f*ck the EU.’7
3.1.1 Legal Analysis
The Euromaidan protests were the violent culmination of a conflict between government authorities and pro-Western, civilian groups. Although the controversy
was about Ukraine’s external relations, it was primarily an internal matter between
a state and an opposition within that state. And while the conflict engendered considerable violence – one only has to look at the number of casualties – at that stage,
it could not be seen as an ‘armed conflict’. It was not a conflict with ‘armed forces oneither side engaged in hostilities [...] similar to an international war’.8 The incidents
had the character of internal disturbances, civilian uprising, and violent clashes
between protesters and police.
3.2 Forming Interim Government and Annexation of Crimea (February – March 2014)
On 21 February, President Yanukovych fled to Russia, and an Interim Government
was formed, uniting the opposition. Events unfolded rapidly in Crimea. Pro-Russian gunmen seized key government buildings. On 1 March, the upper house of theRussian Parliament approved the deployment of troops in Ukraine to protect the678

Eduard Kovacs. ‘Anonymous Ukraine Launches OpIndependence, Attacks European Investment Bank’, Softpedia, 31 October 2013, http://news.softpedia.com/news/Anonymous-Ukraine-Launches-OpIndependence-Attacks-European-Investment-Bank-395790.shtml.
Listen to recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL_GShyGv3o.
ICRC Commentary to Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions.

125

Russian speaking minority. Russian military forces (coined ‘little green men’) werereportedly present in Crimea and blocked the positions of Ukrainian troops.9 A
referendum, initiated by the Crimean Parliament, was held in Crimea on 16 March,which declared that 97% of voters supported joining Russia. Two days later, President Vladimir Putin signed a bill declaring Crimea to be part of the Russian Federation.10 These events were crucial in setting the stage for the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, and led to a dramatic change in relations between Russia and the West.
In cyberspace, there was a simultaneous rise in malicious activity during the military operations in Crimea. Operations were conducted against Ukraine’s mobile
infrastructure, the mobile phones of members of the Ukrainian Parliament, and security communications. Some traditional methods were used, including the seizure of
Ukrtelecom offices and the physical cutting of telephone and internet cables.11 Digital
attacks included DDoS targeting Ukrainian, Crimean, NATO, and Russian websites.
The pro-Russian hacker group CyberBerkut was particularly active against NATO,12
while groups like OpRussia and Russian CyberCommand directed their actions against
Russian websites.13 Polish, Ukrainian, and Russian websites were also defaced, including the site of Russia Today, sometimes with historical references to World War II.14
Information leaks continued. A sensitive conversation between the Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Paet and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs
and Security Policy Catherine Ashton was made public, revealing their discussionof information suggesting that both sides, the opposition and the government, were
responsible for sniper killings during the Maidan protests.15 Anti-Russian motivatedinformation leaks included the disclosure of the names of members of Berkut, theanti-riot police,16 as well as documents belonging to a Russian defence contractor.17
During this time, it also became clear that the spyware Snake (also known as
Ouruborus or Turla) was used against several targets in Ukraine, including the government. Snake is sophisticated malware, known to be in use for at least eight years,
whose origin is uncertain, but believed to be developed in Russia.18
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18

Vitaly Shevchenko. ‘“Little green men” or “Russian invaders”?’, BBC News, 11 March 2014, http://www.bbc.com/news/
world-europe-26532154.
See for an overview of events: ‘Ukraine crisis: timeline’, BBC News, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26248275.
John Leyden. ‘Battle apparently under way in Russia-Ukraine conflict’, The Register, 4 March 2014, http://www.theregister.
co.uk/2014/03/04/ukraine_cyber_conflict/.
Adrian Croft and Peter Apps. ‘NATO websites hit in cyber attack linked to Crimea tension’, Reuters, 16 March 2014, http://
www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/16/us-ukraine-nato-idUSBREA2E0T320140316.
Jeffrey Carr. ‘Rival hackers fighting proxy war over Crimea’, Reuters, 25 March 2014, http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/25/opinion/crimea-cyber-war/. Contrary to what its name suggests, Russian CyberCommand is a hacker group acting against Russianauthorities.
Darlene Storm. ‘Political hackers attack Russia, Nazi defacement, threaten US CENTCOM with cyberattack’, Computerworld,
3 March 2014, http://www.computerworld.com/article/2476002/cybercrime-hacking/political-hackers-attack-russia--nazidefacement--threaten-us-centcom-with-cybera.html.
Ewen MacAskill. ‘Ukraine crisis: bugged call reveals conspiracy theory about Kiev snipers’, The Guardian, 5 March 2014, http://
www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/05/ukraine-bugged-call-catherine-ashton-urmas-paet.
Jeremy Bender. ‘EXPERT: The Ukraine-Russia Cyberwar Is ‘More Serious And Damaging’ Than The Annexation Of Crimea’,
Business Insider, 10 March 2014, http://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-russia-cyberwar-extremely-serious-2014-3.
Bindiya Thomas. ‘Rosoboronexport Denies Loss of Confidential Data in Cyber Attack’, Defense World.net, 25 March 2014,
http://www.defenseworld.net/news/10275/Rosoboronexport_Denies_Loss_of_Confidential_Data_in_Cyber_Attack#.
VbzA8fmMCXQ.
Sam Jones. ‘Cyber Snake plagues Ukraine networks’, Financial Times, 7 March 2014, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/615c29baa614-11e3-8a2a-00144feab7de.html#axzz3gDUpc1wz.

1263.2.1 Legal Analysis
Although the UN and EU expressed their grave concerns about Russia’s annexationof Crimea, and NATO called it a violation of international law,19 Russia defended its
actions as the lawful protection of the Russian speaking minority in Crimea. States
have the right to act when necessary to rescue their nationals abroad. However, in
this case, there were no indications that native Russians were in danger. Even if thatwere the case, it could only have justified their evacuation, not the occupation of theentire peninsula.20 A second possible justification for Russian intervention was aninvitation by the Ukrainian authorities, i.e. President Yanukovych. But, after Yanukovych was replaced by the Interim Government, his actions could not be attributed
to Ukraine anymore.21 A third possible justification is the right to self-determination for the people of Crimea. However, while this right exists for ‘peoples’ within
the existing borders of a state, it does not allow for a complete political separation.22
Russia’s annexation of Crimea was a breach of international law by violating
the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Russia also
breached the 1994 Budapest Memorandum andRussia’s annexation of
the 1997 Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation,
Crimea was a breach ofand Partnership.23 The Black Sea Fleet Status ofinternational law.
Forces Agreement allowed for a Russian military presence in Crimea, but not at the scale as
was the case in March 2014. But was this armed intervention also a use of force, aviolation of Article 2(4) of the UN Charter?24 Moving armed forces to the territory of
another state, without the consent of that state, should definitely be considered a useof force.25 That is exactly what happened: troops belonging to the Russian Black Sea
Fleet in Crimea left their bases, and there were clear indications that other Russian
19

20
21

22
23

24
25

ʻ[A] spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon delivered a statement saying that he was ‘gravely concerned about
the deterioration of the situation’ in Ukraine and planned to speak shortly with Putin. It also called for ‘full respect for andpreservation of the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine’ and demanded ‘immediate restoration ofcalm and direct dialogue between all concerned’. Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton stated that the EU “deplores” what it called Russia’s decision to use military action in Ukraine, describing it as an“unwarranted escalation of tensions”. She called on “all sides to decrease the tensions immediately through dialogue, in fullrespect of Ukrainian and international law”. She added that: ‘The unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine must
be respected at all times and by all sides. Any violation of these principles is unacceptable’. North Atlantic Council condemned
what it called Russia’s military escalation in Crimea and called it a breach of international law’. International reactions to theannexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, Wikipedia, accessed 1 August 2015, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_reactions_to_the_annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation.
See also: Marc Weller, in BBC News, ‘Analysis: Why Russia’s Crimea move fails legal test’, BBC News, 7 March 2014, http://www.
bbc.com/news/world-europe-26481423.
See also: Christian Marxsen, ‘The Crimea Crisis – An International Law Perspective,’ Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches
Recht und Völkerrecht (Heidelberg Journal of International Law) 74/2 (2014): 367-391; Remy Jorritsma. ‘Ukraine Insta-Symposium: Certain (Para-)Military Activities in the Crimea: Legal Consequences for the Application of International HumanitarianLaw’, Opinio Juris, 9 March 2014, http://opiniojuris.org/2014/03/09/ukraine-insta-symposium-certain-para-military-activities-crimea-legal-consequences-application-international-humanitarian-law/; Ashley Deeks. ‘Here’s What International Law
Says About Russia’s Intervention in Ukraine’, New Republic, 2 March 2014, http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116819/international-law-russias-ukraine-intervention.
Marxsen. ‘Crimea Crisis,’ 14; Jorritsma. ‘Legal Consequences.’
The 1994 Budapest memorandum was intended to provide Ukraine security in exchange of accession to the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom committed to ‘respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine’. The 1997 Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership between
Russia and Ukraine was to guarantee the inviolability of the borders between both states. See also: Marxsen, ‘Crimea Crisis,’ 4-5.
Charter of the United Nations, San Francisco, 26 June 1945, Article 2(4).
See also: Deeks. ‘What International Law Says.’127

troops were sent to Crimea to secure strategic sites, block Ukrainian troops, andessentially force them to leave the peninsula.
States can take measures in response to violations of international law. In thiscase the European Union and the United States imposed sanctions on Russia.
Could Russia’s actions be seen as an armed attack, in which case Ukraine would
have had the right to use force in self-defence?26 Like ‘use of force’, ‘armed attack’
is not defined in the UN Charter; in essence, a state determines on a case-by-casebasis whether it considers an attack against it as an ‘armed attack’. A violent attack
with military forces resulting in damage and casualties would certainly be seen as anarmed attack. In the case of Crimea, however, hardly a shot was fired. On the other
hand, it is difficult to argue that Ukraine would not have the right to use force todrive Russian troops out of Crimea.27
Irrespective this analysis of the legal basis of the intervention in Crimea, what
would be the legal regime for the operations conducted by the parties to the conflict, including the cyber operations? Did the situation qualify as an ‘internationalarmed conflict’ where the Law of Armed Conflict applies? The criterion here is thatit relates to hostilities between nation-states. In Crimea, however, the situation was
unclear. Firstly, there was no fighting, although the threshold for ‘armed’ is low.28
Secondly, Russia denied the troops present were theirs and referred to them as‘local self-defence groups’. However, reports indicated the active involvement of
Russian troops29 and, eventually, Putin admitted that Russian troops were present.30
Even in the event that only local forces were active, a situation of internationalarmed conflict could still prevail if they were acting under Russia’s control.
The Law of Armed Conflict also
applies in a situation of a total or partial
The Law of Armed Conflict
occupation, even if the occupation did not
applies in a situation ofmeet armed resistance.31 Occupation is a
total or partial occupation.
‘hostile substitution of territorial power
and authority’.32 This is precisely the casein Crimea, where Russia exercises territorial control without the consent of the
Ukrainian Government.
26
27
28

29
30
31
32

Charter of the United Nations, Article 51.
Deeks. ‘What International Law Says.’‘Any difference arising between two States and leading to the intervention of members of the armed forces is an armed conflictwithin the meaning of Article 2, even if one of the Parties denies the existence of a state of war. It makes no difference howlong the conflict lasts, or how much slaughter takes place. The respect due to the human person as such is not measured by the
number of victims’, ICRC Commentary to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, 20-21.
For example: ‘Ukrainian and Russian troops in standoff at Crimean military base – As it happened’, The Guardian, 3 March
2014, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/02/ukraine-warns-russia-crimea-war-live; and ‘Russian troops storm
Ukrainian bases in Crimea’, BBC News, 22 March 2014, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26698754‘Putin Admits Russian Troop Role in Crimea Annexation’, Voice of America, 17 November 2014, http://www.voanews.com/
content/putin-admits-russian-troop-role-in-crimea-annexation/2523186.html; ‘Putin admits Russian forces were deployed to
Crimea’, Reuters, 17 April 2014, http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/04/17/russia-putin-crimea-idUKL6N0N921H20140417.
Geneva Conventions, 12 August 1949, Common Article 2.
Hague Regulations: Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land, 18 October 1907, Article 42. See also:
Jorritsma, ‘Legal Consequences.’1283.3 Hostilities in Eastern Ukraine (April 2014 – Present)
Following the annexation of Crimea, the world’s attention was quickly drawn to theonset of hostilities in eastern Ukraine. Protesters from the Russian speaking minority inthe cities of Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv occupied government buildings and called
for independence.33 Pro-Russian ‘separatist groups’ emerged. The Ukrainian authorities
responded by starting an ‘anti-terrorist operation’. On 17 April, the first violent deaths
occurred in eastern Ukraine; in the Black Sea city of Odessa, 42 people died in clashes.
On 11 May, Donetsk and Luhansk declared themselves to be independent republics.
Petro Poroshenko was elected President of Ukraine on 25 May, but this poll
could not be held in large parts of the conflict-ridden east. A cease-fire agreement,34
signed in Minsk on 5 September 2014, collapsed when fighting started again in
January 2015. A second agreement signed in the capital of Belarus on 11 February,
Minsk II, provided for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the frontline, a release of prisoners of war, and constitutional reform in Ukraine.35 This second agreement has also been violated, although currently, in September 2015, thesituation seems to have calmed down. NATO reported the active involvement of
Russian troops in eastern Ukraine,36 but Russia has consistently denied involvement.
Cyber operations have continued throughout the conflict. In May 2014, cybermeans were used in an attempt to disrupt the presidential elections, including aneffort to falsify the outcome. CyberBerkut may have taken part and some analysts
believe that Russia was behind it.37 In August 2014, hackers conducted a DDoS attack
against Ukraine’s election commission website, just prior to the parliamentary polls.38
There are numerous publicly-known examples of intelligence gathering throughcyber means, all of which reportedly have a Russian connection. In the Summerof 2014, the Blackenergy spyware was used against Ukrainian government institutions.39 In August, the Snake malware was employed against the Ukrainian Prime
Minister’s Office, as well as a number of foreign embassies.40 In April 2015, Lookinglass reported on a Russian campaign to extract classified documents from Ukrainian
military and law enforcement agencies in an effort to support pro-Russian military

33
34
35
36

37
38
39
40

‘Ukraine crisis: Timeline’, BBC News, accessed 1 August 2015, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26248275.
Protocol on the results of consultations of the Trilateral Contact Group, Minsk, 5 September 2014, http://mfa.gov.ua/en/newsfeeds/foreign-offices-news/27596-protocolon-the-results-of-consultations-of-the-trilateral-contact-group-minsk-05092014.
‘Ukraine ceasefire: New Minsk agreement key points’, BBC News, 12 February 2015, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31436513.
See for example: ‘NATO Commander: ‘Conditions in Eastern Ukraine Have to Change’’, OPB, 6 February 2015, http://www.
opb.org/news/article/npr-nato-commander-conditions-in-eastern-ukraine-have-to-change/, and ‘Nato urges Russia to stop
fuelling Ukraine conflict’, The Irish Times, 15 April 2015, http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/nato-urges-russiato-stop-fuelling-ukraine-conflict-1.2176718.
Mark Clayton. ‘Ukraine election narrowly avoided ‘wanton destruction’ from hackers (+video)’, The Christian Science Monitor,
17 June 2014, http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Passcode/2014/0617/Ukraine-election-narrowly-avoided-wanton-destruction-from-hackers-video.
‘Hackers attack Ukraine election website’, Presstv, 25 October 2014, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/10/25/383623/ukraines-election-website-hacked/. See also: Vitaly Shevchenko, ‘Ukraine conflict: Hackers take sides in virtual war’, BBC News, 20
December 2014, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30453069.
David Gilbert. ‘BlackEnergy Cyber Attacks Against Ukrainian Government Linked to Russia’, International Business Times, 26
September 2014, http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/blackenergy-cyber-attacks-against-ukrainian-governm)ent-linked-russia-1467401.
Sam Jones. ‘Russia-linked cyber attack on Ukraine PM’s office’, CNBC, 8 August 2014, http://www.cnbc.com/id/101905588.

129operations in Ukraine.41 ISight Partners reported that Russian Sandworm hackers
used a ‘zero-day’ vulnerability to hack NATO and Ukraine in a cyber espionage
campaign.42 The list of targets was not confined to Ukrainian sites. In January 2015,
CyberBerkut claimed responsibility for a cyber attack on German Government sites,
demanding that Germany end its support to the Ukrainian government.43
On the pro-Ukraine side, the Ukrainian Cyber Troops reportedly claimed to have
hacked into Russian interior ministry servers and CCTV cameras in separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine.44
3.3.1 Legal Analysis
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has characterised the situation in eastern Ukraine as a ‘non-international armed conflict’,45 a situation in which
hostilities occur between governmental armed forces and non-governmental organised armed groups, or between such organised armed groups. The two requirements
are a certain degree of organisation of the non-governmental groups and the existence of ‘protracted armed violence’.46 The conflict in Eastern Ukraine does in fact
reach a high level of violence over a longer period of time, and the separatists do infact have a high degree of organisation.
Although Russia has consistently denied involvement, there continues to be
widespread belief to the contrary, suggesting that Moscow actively supports theDonetsk and Luhansk separatists, including by sending Russian military forces as‘volunteers’ to the area. If Russia actively participates or exercises ‘overall control’
over the separatists, the conflict could be considered an international armed conflict. To meet the criterion of ‘overall control’, a state must not only finance, train,equip, or provide operational support to local forces, but also have a role in organising, coordinating, and planning their operations.47
However, for the purpose of this chapter, the conflict in eastern Ukraine is considered to be a non-international armed conflict.
This analysis results in a situation where different legal regimes apply simultane41
42
43
44
45

46
47

Aarti Shahani. ‘Report: To Aid Combat, Russia Wages Cyberwar Against Ukraine’, NPR, 28 April 2015, http://www.npr.org/
sections/alltechconsidered/2015/04/28/402678116/report-to-aid-combat-russia-wages-cyberwar-against-ukraine.
Ellen Nakashima. ‘Russian hackers use ‘zero-day’ to hack NATO, Ukraine in cyber-spy campaign’, The Washington Post, 13
October 2014, http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/russian-hackers-use-zero-day-to-hack-nato-ukraine-in-cyber-spy-campaign/2014/10/13/f2452976-52f9-11e4-892e-602188e70e9c_story.html.
Michelle Martin and Erik Kirschbaum. ‘Pro-Russian group claims cyber attack on German government websites’, Reuters, 7January 2015, http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/07/us-germany-cyberattack-idUSKBN0KG15320150107.
‘The Daily Beast: Ukraine’s lonely cyber warrior,’ KyivPost, 18 February 2015, http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine-abroad/the-daily-beast-ukraines-lonely-cyber-warrior-381094.html, and Vitaly Shevchenko, ‘Ukraine conflict: Hackers take sides in virtual war’, BBC News, 20 December 2014, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30453069.
‘Fighting in eastern Ukraine continues to take its toll on civilians, and we urge all sides to comply with international humanitarian law, otherwise known as the law of armed conflict’, said Mr Stillhart. ‘These rules and principles apply to all parties tothe non-international armed conflict in Ukraine, and impose restrictions on the means and methods of warfare that they may
use [in Ukraine]’: ICRC calls on all sides to respect international humanitarian law, ICRC News Release 14/125, 23 July 2014.
Non-international armed conflicts are ‘armed conflicts not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of theHigh Contracting Parties,’ Geneva Conventions, Common Article 3.
The criterion ‘protracted armed violence’ stems from Tadić, Decision on the Defence Motion for Interlocutory Appeal, para 70,
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, 2 October 1995.
‘Overall control’ is addressed in: Tadić, Appeals Chamber judgment, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, 15 July 1999, para 132, 137, 141, and 145. See also: Tallinn Manual, 79-82.

130ously. The Law of Armed Conflict pursuant to international armed conflicts applies
to the occupation of Crimea. Eastern Ukraine is a national issue in which the law
pursuant to non-international armed conflicts applies. There is a crucial difference.
During an international armed conflict, the Law of Armed Conflict applies to thefull extent; during a non-international armed conflict, minimum rules apply.48 An
example is that in an international armed conflict, combatants captured by theenemy are entitled to Prisoner of War (PoW) status. In a non-international armed
conflict, the combatant’s status is unknown; belligerents have to be treated well, but
the extensive rules that protect PoWs do not apply. However, many rules of international armed conflict are customary law and apply also in a non-internationalarmed conflict, as we will see with respect to cyber operations.

4

Legal Implications for Cyber Operations in Ukraine

The conflict started as an internal matter, the protests at Maidan Square, to an
unlawful intervention and occupation of Crimea, culminating in the non-international armed conflict in eastern Ukraine.
During the first phase, the Euromaidan protests, the cyber incidents were a law
enforcement issue. For example, the defacement of websites and DDoS attacks
restricting the use of internet services violated Ukrainian criminal law and could
have been prosecuted in Ukrainian courts.49 Malicious cross-border cyber activities, involving both Ukraine and other countries, would fall under the criminal
jurisdiction of Ukraine and the affected countries.
During the occupation of Crimea and the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, theLaw of Armed Conflict applies. It regulates the conduct of all actors in the conDuring the Euromaidan
flict, including the cyber actors. Hereafter,
protests, cyber incidents werefirst the status of the different cyber actors
a law enforcement issue.
will be discussed; after that the cyber
operations we have seen in the Ukraine
conflict will be evaluated from the perspective of the Law of Armed Conflict.
4.1 Actors in Cyberspace
In an international armed conflict, belligerents that qualify as ‘combatants’ enjoy combatant immunity, meaning they cannot be prosecuted for taking part in hostilities (except
48

49

These ‘minimum rules’ are formulated in Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, and in Additional Protocol II to the
Geneva Conventions. The rules laid down in that protocol apply to a conflict within a state that is party to the Protocol between
the armed forces of that state and dissident armed forces or organised armed groups that control sufficient territory so ‘as toenable them to carry out sustained and concerted military operations’, Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12
August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II), 8 June 1977, Article
1(1). Ukraine is party to Additional Protocol II, and the separatists do control significant territory.
Ukraine is Party to the Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest, 2001). The Convention aims to harmonise cybercrime legislation and facilitate information exchange and international cooperation in the area of prosecution of cybercrimes. States thatare party to the convention are obliged to incorporate certain violations in their national laws: ‘illegal access’, ‘illegal interception’, ‘data interference’, ‘system interference’, and ‘misuse of devices’.

131for war crimes) and, on capture, have PoW status. These rules also apply during occupation, as in Crimea. Most cyber actors in Crimea were nominally non-state actors, forexample the pro-Russian hacker group CyberBerkut. If such a group were an integrated
part of Russia’s military forces, they would be combatants. If not, they could neverthelessbe considered combatants if they were part of an organised armed group, belonging to a
party to the conflict, when they fulfil the following conditions: (a) being commanded bya person responsible for his subordinates; (b) having a fixed distinctive sign recognisable
at a distance; (c) carrying arms openly; and (d) conducting their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.50 These criteria are important to distinguishcombatants from civilians. It is unlikely that non-state hacker groups, also those activein the Ukraine crisis, meet all these criteria, especially when they are only ‘virtually’organised, only in contact through the internet.
Hackers or hacker groups who are non-combatants are to be regarded civilians.
However, if they are ‘directly participating in hostilities’, they lose their protection as
civilians and can be targeted by the opposing party. Three criteria have to be met to be
regarded ‘civilians directly participating in hostilities.’ 51 First, there has to be a certain
amount of ‘harm’; the ‘act must be likely to adversely affect the military operations or
military capacity of [the adversary] or […] to inflict death, injury or destruction on
persons or objects protected against direct attack’.52 Second, there has to be a ‘causal
connexion’ between the acts and the harm inflicted. Third, there has to be a ‘belligerent nexus’, meaning that the operations must be intended to affect the adversary’s
military operations. Harm can also be inflicted by cyber operations, and does not necessarily have to include physical damage. In the case of CyberBerkut and other active
hacker groups the effects probably did not reach the threshold of ‘harm’.
In non-international armed conflicts, like in eastern Ukraine, ‘combatant immunity’
does not exist. Whether or not belligerents – especially non-state armed groups – have
immunity, will be determined based on domestic law. Certain cyber operations will beillegal based on domestic law. Civilians have protected status, but as in international armed
conflicts, when they are ‘directly participating in hostilities’ they lose that protected status.
4.2 Information Operations
During the conflict in Ukraine, cyber was mainly used for information warfare andintelligence gathering – not to damage cyber or critical infrastructure. Irrespective
their effects, cyber operations are very often called ‘cyber attack.’ It is important to note
that, in the context of international and non-international armed conflicts, ‘attack’ hasa very specific meaning. ‘Attacks means acts of violence against the adversary, whether
in offence or in defence.’53 Whether or not an operation qualifies as attack is crucial
50
51
52
53

Geneva Convention (III), 12 August 1949, Article 4, para A(2).
ICRC Interpretive guidance on the notion of Direct Participation in hostilities under international humanitarian law, May
2009.
ICRC Interpretive guidance, 47.
Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International
Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), 8 June 1977, Article 49(1).

132because the law imposes prohibitions and restrictions with respect to attacks, forexample the prohibition to attack civilians, civilian objects, and medical installations,and the requirement to take precautions before conducting an attack. Not every cyber
operation that affects the adversary is an attack. A cyber operation that constitutes anact of violence however, is an attack. The Tallinn Manual defines a ‘cyber attack’ as ‘acyber operation, whether offensive or defensive, that is reasonably expected to cause
injury or death to persons or damage or destruction to objects.’54 This interpretation of
the current law restricts ‘cyber attacks’ to acts that have physical consequences.
If the parties to the conflict in Ukraine would have used cyber to inflict physicaldamage, injuries, or death, or to support kinetic operations, those cyber operations
would be ‘(cyber) attacks’ and subject to the relevant prohibitions and restrictions.
Most of the cyber activities in Ukraine however are information operations and do
not meet the ‘attack’ threshold. Information operations, as such, are not directly
addressed in the Law of Armed Conflict.
Information operations,
Whether they would be in violation of the law
basically depends on the content of the message.
as such, are not directly
One example would be disseminating a threataddressed in the Law ofening message with the purpose to spread terror
Armed Conflict.
among the civilian population.55 The disruptionof elections, that took place in Ukraine, definitely violated domestic law, and when
conducted or supported by another state, could also have been a breach of international law, but was not a violation of the Law of Armed Conflict.
4.3 Cyber Espionage
During the conflict in Ukraine, cyber means have been used to gather intelligence
including Snake, Blackenergy, and Sandworm. Intelligence gathering and espionage
are not forbidden by international law. Espionage, in the context of the Law of Armed
Conflict, has a narrow scope: it refers to operations that are conducted clandestinely
or under false pretences, taking place on territory controlled by the adversary; ‘behind
enemy lines’.56 For instance, a close access cyber operation where an agent is gaining
access to servers being used by the adversary by feigning a false identity and extracting
information by using a thumb drive, could be espionage. An agent captured before
reaching his own troops has no PoW status and can be tried as a spy. Gathering intelligence from a distance is not espionage in the meaning of the Law of Armed Conflict.
Snake, Blackenergy, and Sandworm reportedly have a Russian connection. If
Russia – or another state – would be actively supporting the separatists in eastern
Ukraine by providing intelligence, that would not necessarily ‘internationalise’ theconflict. Mere operational support does not meet the ‘overall control’ threshold.57
54
55
56
57

Tallinn Manual, 106.
Protocol I, Article 51(2), and Protocol II, Article 13(2).
Tallinn Manual, 192-193.
Tallinn Manual, 81.

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5

Conclusions

International law applies to cyberspace. During armed conflict, the Law of Armed
Conflict applies to any cyber operation conducted in association with the hostilities.
Until now, we have not seen a case where cyber hostilities between parties by themselves constituted an armed conflict. Rather, they have remained as one part of a larger,
traditional conflict. This dynamic has not changed during the conflict in Ukraine.
This chapter describes the international legal framework for the conflict in
Ukraine and the cyber operations that have been conducted in association with thatconflict. The ‘legal situation’ is somewhat unclear due to diverging views on various
aspects of the crisis, such as the annexation of Crimea and the alleged involvementof Russian military forces in eastern Ukraine. Another aspect that complicates alegal evaluation is that cyber operations are often conducted by non-state actors,
whose status and affiliation are not always clear.
The protests at Maidan Square turned violent, but they were not an ‘armed conflict’; they were an internal law enforcement matter. The annexation of Crimea led
to the peninsula’s occupation by Russia, but Russia disputes that interpretation.
During an occupation, the Law of Armed Conflict applies. Eastern Ukraine cantoday be considered a non-international armed conflict, where cyber operations
must be conducted in accordance with the minimum safeguards the Law of Armed
Conflict provides for such situations.
In the Ukraine conflict, the publicly
Cyber operations are often
known cyber operations have not genconducted by non-state
erally been considered to be sophistiactors, whose status and affil- cated – likely not corresponding to thereal national capabilities of Russia andiation are not always clear.
Ukraine. The prevailing assumption isthat, with the exception of some advanced
cyber espionage malware such as Snake, the known cyber attacks could have been conducted by non-state actors. These hackers or hacker groups, trying to affect the adversary’s military activities, are participating in hostilities and have to conduct their operations in accordance with the Law of Armed Conflict.
At the end of the day, cyber operations in the Ukraine conflict have been usedeither to gather intelligence or as part of an ongoing ‘information war’ between theparties. They were not launched to inflict damage to infrastructure and other militarycapabilities. As a result, most of these cyber operations have not yet risen to the levelof activities proscribed or even governed by the Law of Armed Conflict. That would
be different when cyber would be more integrated in kinetic warfare operations.

Chapter 15

The Ukraine Crisis
as a Test for Proposed
Cyber Norms
Henry Rõigas
NATO CCD COE

1Introduction

In international forums, governments, academia, and the private sector have strenuously argued that states must agree on existing or develop a set of international
norms for conflict in cyberspace. Our current environment is characterised by asteep rise in the development of offensive cyber tools and tactics – as well as a general disagreement on when and where it is appropriate to use them. The overall
result is a popular perception of a weakened international security environment thatthreatens to devolve into an anarchic Hobbesian world of ‘all against all’. Against thisbackdrop, there have been urgent calls for greater investment in cyber diplomacy.1
The term ‘norm’ has become someThe term ‘norm’ has become
what of a buzzword in these discussions
used to argue that states should adhere
somewhat of a buzzword.
to certain rules of behaviour with regard
to conducting cyber operations. This chapter will thus first describe the nature of‘cyber norms’ and then discuss the primary developments in the global arena. The
author’s focus will be on the proposed cyber norms of behaviour that would havea politically binding character, and will avoid discussing existing international law
1

See, for example, developments in the United Nations: http://www.un.org/disarmament/topics/informationsecurity/, and The
Council of the European Union’s conclusions on cyber diplomacy: http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-61222015-INIT/en/pdf.

135

(legal norms)2 as well as the challenges of practical implementation of the thesenorms.
Finally, this chapter will analyse the Ukraine crisis in light of these proposals, and attempt to assess their rationality and applicability. The Russo-Ukrainian
conflict, in theory, offers a suitable case study in that there has been ample room
for malicious state-sponsored cyber activities: first, nation-states perceived ashaving considerable cyber capabilities – not only Russia and Ukraine, but alsosurrounding nations and the member states of NATO – are involved, at least indirectly; and second, the crisis has both endured and evolved from the Euromaidan
street protests to the Russian annexation of Crimea to open, armed conflict ineastern Ukraine.

2

Proposed ‘Political’ Cyber Norms

In international relations, norms are often defined as ‘collective expectations ofproper behaviour for an actor with a given identity’,3 which is broad enough thatstates (and other stakeholders) use the term to put forward a wide range of proposals in diplomatic forums. This chapter takes a simplified approach, limiting its scopeto (1) legal and (2) political norms: the‘proper behaviour’ of states is comprehenNorms reflect the internasively regulated by international law (i.e.
tional community’s expeclegal norms such as treaties, international
tations, set standards forcustoms, and general principles of interresponsible State behaviour. national law)4 and through cyber diplomacy in the form of political or non-legallybinding agreements. The United Nations Group of Governmental Experts (UNGGE) has explained the nature of these politically binding instruments by statingthat ‘norms reflect the international community’s expectations, set standards forresponsible State behaviour and allow the international community to assess theactivities and intentions of States’. The problem, of course, is that breaches of such
political norms only give rise to political, non-legal consequences.5
There has been some agreement between nation states on setting international‘cyber norms’. In 2013, the UN published an accord, written by a GGE including
representatives from the US, UK, China, and Russia, expressing consensus on the
23
45

For a discussion on the role of legal cyber norms, see Michael N. Schmitt and Liis Vihul. ‘The Nature of International Law
Cyber Norms,‘ Tallinn Papers, no. 6 (2014), https://ccdcoe.org/sites/default/files/multimedia/pdf/Tallinn%20Paper%20No%20%205%20Schmitt%20and%20Vihul.pdf.
See Martha Finnemore and Kathryn Sikkink. ‘International Norm Dynamics and Political Change,‘ International Organization
52, no. 4 (October 1, 1998): 887–917.
See sources of international law listed in the Statute of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Article 38.
Some have also used the terms ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ law in this context, see Dinah Shelton. ‘Normative Hierarchy in International
Law’, The American Journal of International Law 100, no. 2 (April 1, 2006): 291–323. For a concept listing policy responses tocyber incidents, see Tobias Feakin. ‘Developing a Proportionate Response to a Cyber Incident’ Council on Foreign Relations,
August 2015, http://www.cfr.org/cybersecurity/developing-proportionate-response-cyber-incident/p36927.

136

basic notion that existing international law applies to cyberspace. 6 In 2015, the same
forum published another report7 which delved into greater detail, but the GGE has
previously not elaborated on precisely how to apply existing laws (legal norms) tothe nuanced field of cyber security. The reports did state, however, that the unique
attributes of information and communications technology (ICTs) could demand
the creation of altogether new norms.
The fairly general agreement expressed in the reports can be viewed both as
the lowest common denominator between the world’s key cyber powers and as amanifestation of a general lack of clarity in this new geopolitical arena. Meanwhile
academia has to some degree filled the void, actively addressing the applicability of existing international law,8 although work in the area of state practice andinterpretation has been relatively limited. In the context of norms restraining statebehaviour, existing international law such as the prohibition on the use of force andthe law of armed conflict (LOAC) are highly relevant and indispensable, but it islikely that additional norms – political rather than legal – will be developed by theinternational community over time. Two somewhat opposing approaches to thesenew political norms will be addressed below.
One group of nations acting as ‘norm entrepreneurs’9 seems to aim for a treaty-level agreement to govern state activities in cyberspace. Member nations of the
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)10 have proposed a Code of Conduct forInternational Information Security11 to the UN. In parallel, Russia has developed (in2011) a separate concept for a Convention on International Information Security12
which covers, to a large extent, the same territory.
These proposed instruments do not apply the prefix ‘cyber’ when addressing
ICT-related issues; instead, the focus is on preserving ‘information security’ which
represents a broad conceptualisation of the threat environment and the scope oflimited state activities.13 According to SCO’s own agreement on information security (the Yekaterinburg Agreement of 2009)14 and the aforementioned Convention
proposal by Russia (2011), ‘information war’ entails, in addition to damaging information systems and critical infrastructures (which is often the ‘Western’ scope of
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

United Nations, General Assembly, Group of Governmental Experts on Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security, A/69/723, 2013, http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/68/98.
United Nations, General Assembly, Group of Governmental Experts on Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security, A/70/174, 2015, http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/
N15/228/35/PDF/N1522835.pdf?OpenElement.
See the Tallinn Manual process: https://ccdcoe.org/research.html.
See Finnemore and Sikkink. “International Norm Dynamics and Political Change,” October 1, 1998.
Member States of the SCO are China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
United Nations, General Assembly, Letter Dated 9 January 2015 from the Permanent Representatives of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to the United Nations Addressed to the Secretary-General, A/69/723,
2015, https://ccdcoe.org/sites/default/files/documents/UN-150113-CodeOfConduct.pdf.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. Convention on International Information Security (Concept),
2011, http://www.mid.ru/bdomp/ns-osndoc.nsf/1e5f0de28fe77fdcc32575d900298676/7b17ead7244e2064c3257925003bcbcc!OpenDocument.
See, for example, James A. Lewis. ‘Liberty, Equality, Connectivity: Transatlantic Cybersecurity Norms,‘ Strategic Technologies
Program (Center For Strategic and International Studies, 2014), 6.
Annex 1of SCO, Agreement between the Governments of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on Cooperation in the Field of International Information Security.

137

actions when the term ‘cyber security’ is used), also ‘psychologic brainwashing todestabilise society and state’, signalling that for them the threat also stems from content and information itself.15
The Code of Conduct puts a strong emphasis on the principle of information
sovereignty,16 arguing that states should not use ‘ICTs and information and communication networks to interfere in the internal affairs of other states or with theaim of undermining their political, economic and social stability’. It asks states
to refrain from ‘activities which run counter to the task of maintaining international peace and security’ and highlights a state’s responsibility to protect ‘information space and critical information infrastructure against damage resulting
from threats, interference, attack and sabotage’. Further, it includes a section thatprohibits states from using ‘dominant position in ICTs’ to engage in the aforementioned activities. In terms of international
cooperation, the Code seeks to curb ‘the disDocuments demonsemination of information that incites terrorstrate the ambition ofism, separatism or extremism’.
SCO members to see a
These documents demonstrate the ambitreaty-level agreement. tion of the SCO members to see an eventual
treaty-level agreement. However, if the Codeof Conduct would actually be adopted in the current form, it could not be considered as a source of international law (a legal instrument) since the norms areof a politically binding character due their ‘aspirational’ and non-compulsory
nature.17
The Code of Conduct has not been put to a vote as adoption at the UN is highly
unlikely due to opposition from many liberal democracies. An alternative strategy,
promoted initially by the US, is to strengthen international cyber security throughvoluntary norms of behaviour that pertain during peacetime.18 According to thislogic, most cyber operations fall below the‘use of force’ threshold, which means that
An alternative strategy
most of the existing legal norms regulating
is to strengthen interinterstate cyber operations are not suffinational cyber security
cient.19 During the height of the cyber incithrough voluntary norms.
dents in Ukraine, the US promoted the fol15
16
17
18

19

See, for example, Keir Giles. ‘Russia’s Public Stance on Cyberspace Issues,‘ in 2012 4th International Conference on Cyber Conflict, ed. Christian Czosseck, Rain Ottis, and Katharina Ziolkowski (NATO CCD COE Publication, 2012), http://www.ccdcoe.
org/publications/2012proceedings/2_1_Giles_RussiasPublicStanceOnCyberInformationWarfare.pdf.
See the Chinese viewpoint in Lu Wei. ‘Cyber Sovereignty Must Rule Global Internet,‘ The Huffington Post, December 15, 2014,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lu-wei/china-cyber-sovereignty_b_6324060.html.
Schmitt and Vihul. ‘The Nature of International Law Cyber Norms,‘ 4.
States supporting this view strongly emphasise the applicability of existing international law and see that these norms shouldbe ‘voluntary measures of self-restraint’ during peacetime, see Christopher M. E. Painter. Testimony of Christopher M. E. Painter, Coordinator for Cyber Issues, U.S. Department of State Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Subcommittee on East
Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy Hearing Titled: ‘Cybersecurity: Setting the Rules for Responsible Global
Behaviour,‘ 2015, http://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/051415_Painter_Testimony.pdf.
Ibid., 8–9. Also, see Tallinn Manual 2.0 process focusing on international law applicable to cyber operations that do not mountto an ‘use of force’ or do not take place during armed conflict, https://ccdcoe.org/research.html .

138

lowing four norms of which the first three were included in the recent UN GGE
report:20(1) states should not conduct or knowingly support online activity thatdamages or impairs critical infrastructure (norm 1);(2) states should not conduct or knowingly support activity intended toprevent the national Computer Security Incidents Response Teams(CSIRTs or CERTs) from responding to cyber incidents, nor use
CSIRTs to do harm (norm 2);(3) states should cooperate with other states in investigating cybercrimeby collecting electronic evidence and mitigating cyber activity emanating from its territory (norm 3); and(4) states should not conduct or knowingly support cyber-enabled theft ofcommercially valuable intellectual property (norm 4).
Before we move on, it is important to note that these and other cyber norms
have been analysed in academic circles21 as well as in the private sector. For example,
Microsoft has recommended six cybersecurity norms designed to limit the proliferation of cyber weapons and offensive operations in cyberspace.22

3

Observations from Ukraine:
Hints of State-sponsored Operations

The attribution of cyber attacks is notoriously difficult. In order to discoverstate-sponsored operations, one can only speculate based upon inconclusive indicators such as target, malware, motive, and complexity.
In Ukraine, some advanced cyber espionage tools such as Turla/Snake/Ourobours and Sandworm have not only been linked to the conflict, but also associatedwith an ‘Advanced Persistent Threat’ (APT) actor (i.e. nation-state), likely Russia.23
At the same time, analysts have argued that most of the cyber attack methods in
Ukraine such as DDoS attacks and defacements have been technically unsophisticated. Thus, on balance, the ‘complexity criterion’ appears unmet.
20
21
22
23

Painter. Testimony of Christopher M. E. Painter, Coordinator for Cyber Issues, U.S. Department of State Before the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy Hearing Titled: ‘Cybersecurity: Setting the Rules for Responsible Global Behaviour.‘For example, drawing parallels with state obligations during crises on the sea, a duty to assist victims of severe cyberattacks(an e-SOS) has been proposed by Duncan B. Hollis in ‘An E-SOS for Cyberspace,‘ Harvard International Law Journal 52, no. 2(2011), http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1670330.
Angela McKay et al., ‘International Cybersecurity Norms. Reducing Conflict in an Internet-Dependent World‘ (Microsoft,2015), http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/6/0/7605D861-C57A-4E23-B823-568CFC36FD44/International_Cybersecurity_%20Norms.pdf.
See, for example, ‘Suspected Russian Spyware Turla Targets Europe, United States,‘ Reuters, March 7, 2014, http://www.reuters.
com/article/2014/03/07/us-russia-cyberespionage-insight-idUSBREA260YI20140307; ‘Zero Day Vulnerability CVE-20144114 Used in Cyber-Espionage,‘ iSIGHT Partners, October 21, 2014, http://www.isightpartners.com/2014/10/cve-2014-4114/.

139

Actions attributed to hacktivist groups raise questions
regarding possible coordination with state entities.

Actions attributed to hacktivist
groups also raise questions regarding
possible coordination with state entities. For example, Ukrainian officials
reported that, even when the hacktivist
group CyberBerkut failed to compromise Ukraine’s online election system and only managed to present fake election
results on the election’s website for a very brief period, a Russian state-owned TV
channel still displayed these results immediately.24 In another incident, CyberBerkut
allegedly leaked the recording of a phone call between Estonian Minster of Foreign Affairs Urmas Paet and European Union (EU) High Representative for Foreign
Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, suggesting that Cyber Berkut either
possesses sophisticated cyber capabilities or has links to Russian intelligence services.25
Here, we must remember SCO’s focus on ‘information security’, as opposed to‘cyber security’, and in fact many analysts believe that both Russia26 and Ukraine27
are conducting information operations within the context of the ongoing conflict ineastern Ukraine. The internet is a natural terrain for these operations;28 the reported‘troll factories’ in St. Petersburg creating pro-Russian comments for online new
media serve as prominent examples.29

4Which Norms of Behaviour Were Followed?

Thus, there are two dominant ongoing conversations relative to the creation ofpolitical cyber norms: (1) the information security norms proposed by the SCO,
and (2) the voluntary norms of behaviour in peacetime (initially promoted by theUS). This section will analyse the known cyber incidents in Ukraine in the context
of these two normative frameworks.

24
25

26
27
28
29

Mark Clayton. ‘Ukraine Election Narrowly Avoided ‘Wanton Destruction’ from Hackers,‘ Christian Science Monitor, June17, 2014, http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Passcode/2014/0617/Ukraine-election-narrowly-avoided-wanton-destruction-from-hackers-video.
Ewen MacAskill. ‘Ukraine Crisis: Bugged Call Reveals Conspiracy Theory about Kiev Snipers,‘ The Guardian, March 5, 2014,
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/05/ukraine-bugged-call-catherine-ashton-urmas-paet; Trend Micro, ‘Hacktivist Group CyberBerkut Behind Attacks on German Official Websites,‘ Security Intelligence Blog, http://blog.trendmicro.com/
trendlabs-security-intelligence/hacktivist-group-cyberberkut-behind-attacks-on-german-official-websites/.
NATO StratCom Centre of Excellence, Analysis of Russia’s Information Campaign Against Ukraine, October 15, 2014, http://
www.stratcomcoe.org/download/file/fid/1910.
Maksim Vikhrov. ‘Ukraine Forms ‘Ministry of Truth’ to Regulate the Media,‘ The Guardian, December 19, 2014, http://www.
theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/19/-sp-ukraine-new-ministry-truth-undermines-battle-for-democracy.
Maeve Shearlaw. ‘From Britain to Beijing: How Governments Manipulate the Internet,‘ The Guardian, April 2, 2015, http://
www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/02/russia-troll-factory-kremlin-cyber-army-comparisons.
Dmitry Volchek and Daisy Sindelar. ‘One Professional Russian Troll Tells All,‘ RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, March 25, 2015,sec. Russia, http://www.rferl.org/content/how-to-guide-russian-trolling-trolls/26919999.html; Shearlaw. ‘From Britain to Beijing.‘

1404.1 The Information Security Norms Proposed by the SCO
In general, the state-sponsored conventional military operations in Ukraine are notin accordance with international norms;30 therefore, it should come as no surprisethat the reported cyber incidents also appear unorthodox. However, one importantquestion, given that Russia is directly involved in the Ukraine conflict, is how thesecyber incidents fit into the Code of Conduct
framework whose primary focus is informaAlleged Russian cybertion sovereignty. In that regard, alleged Rusoperations appear inconsian cyber operations would appear inconsissistent with the norms it
tent with the norms it has hitherto proposedor supported. In fact, most of the cyber incihas hitherto proposed.
dents reported by both sides in the conflictseem to fall into the category of information operations, which could be interpreted
as violating another state’s information sovereignty. In the words of the Code of
Conduct, ICTs were likely used in an effort to interfere ‘in the internal affairs ofother States […] with the aim of undermining their political, economic and social
stability’.
Since the norms supported by SCO and Russia focus on ‘information’ rather
than strictly ‘cyber’ security, one can see that the non-cyber information operations via other media such as TV are also inconsistent with the stated principle ofinformation sovereignty. The Code of Conduct also prohibits the abuse of a ‘dominant position’ in cyberspace; in this regard too, Russia may have violated its own
principles by abusing its control over Russian-owned social media networks such
as Vkontakte and Odnoklassniki which are also popular among Ukrainian users.31
Analysing the application of the SCO-proposed information security norms
reveals an inherent weakness: quantifying the influence of highly subjective information content or identifying a breach of ‘information sovereignty’ is problematic,
if not impossible.
4.2 The Voluntary Norms of Behaviour in Peacetime
The voluntary, politically binding norms advocated by the US (and partly recommended by the UN GGE) are intended to apply in peacetime. Nonetheless – andhowever one classifies the Ukraine conflict from a legal perspective32 – we can still
speculate relative to their application during a time of conflict.
In Ukraine, the most important observation so far is that no destructive cyberattacks on critical infrastructure (CI) have been reported by either side. To somedegree, this offers hope that the norm of limiting cyber attacks against CI could
30
31

32

See collection of legal arguments related to the use of force in the Ukraine conflict, ‘Debate Map: Ukraine Use of Force,‘ accessed August 17, 2015, http://opil.ouplaw.com/page/ukraine-use-of-force-debate-map.
Margarita Jaitner and Peter A. Mattsson. ‘Russian Information Warfare of 2014,‘ in 2015 7th International Conference on Cyber
Conflict, ed. Markus Maybaum, Anna-Maria Osula, and Lauri Lindström (NATO CCD COE Publication, 2015), 39–52; ‘Vkontakte Founder Flees Russia, Claims Persecution,‘ The Moscow Times, April 22, 2014, http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/
article/vkontakte-founder-flees-russia-claims-persecution/498715.html.
See Chapter 14 by Jan Stinissen.

141This offers hope that thenorm of limiting cyber attacks
against CI could evolve intoa standard of behaviour.

evolve into a standard of behaviour.33 A
possible exception is the alleged sabotage of the Ukrainian election system,
but even here, one might disagree overwhether this was a simple information
operation or a serious attack against
CI.34 The pertinent question here may relate to the proper definition of CI.
Historically, there have been some significant network intrusions,35 but relatively
few examples of effective cyber attacks against CI.36 The few cases that are presented as destructive state-sponsored attacks – Stuxnet being the best-documented
example37 – can still be seen as outliers. With that in mind, even well-establishednorms are mere ‘collective expectations of proper behaviour’38, and it is unrealistic
to assume that every actor (especially a nation at war) would always abide by them.
Assuming there have been no attacks against CI in Ukraine, can we say that thisis another example of cyber powers restraining themselves?39 First, this restraint
may be strongly influenced by case-specificfactors, as explained by Martin Libicki in
Is it possible that cyber does
Chapter 12. Second, one can identify more
not give nation-states a revuniversal reasons stemming from classiolutionary way to damage
cal realpolitik calculus of state actors. Is it
possible that cyber does not give nationCI for strategic gain?
states a revolutionary way to damage CI(or otherwise harm the citizens of an adversary state) for strategic gain?40 Or does
the case of Ukraine show that cyber operations are now universally employed, butless effective than feared?41 In other words, the tactical opportunities that cyber isoften seen as providing – the infinite reach, low cost of entry, and plausible deniability – may not easily translate to the strategic level.42 This is also apparent as there

33
34
35

36
37
38
39
40
41
42

Limiting attacks against CI was also covered in the aforementioned SCO’s Code of Conduct.
Clayton. ‘Ukraine Election Narrowly Avoided ‘Wanton Destruction’ from Hackers (+video).’See, for example, Trend Micro and Organization of American States. ‘Report on Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure in
the Americas,‘ 2015, http://www.trendmicro.com/us/security-intelligence/research-and-analysis/critical-infrastructures-security/index.html?cm_mmc=VURL:www.trendmicro.com-_-VURL-_-/oas/index.html-_-vanity; Jack Cloherty et al., ‘‘Trojan
Horse’ Bug Lurking in Vital US Computers,‘ ABC News, November 7, 2014, http://abcnews.go.com/US/trojan-horse-buglurking-vital-us-computers-2011/story?id=26737476; ‘Havex Malware Strikes Industrial Sector via Watering Hole Attacks,‘
SC Magazine, June 25, 2014, http://www.scmagazine.com/havex-malware-strikes-industrial-sector-via-watering-hole-attacks/
article/357875/.
Thomas Rid. Cyber War Will Not Take Place (Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press, 2013); Brandon Valeriano and Ryan
C. Maness. Cyber War versus Cyber Realities: Cyber Conflict in the International System (Oxford ; New York: Oxford University
Press, 2015).
David E. Sanger. ‘Obama Ordered Wave of Cyberattacks Against Iran,‘ The New York Times, June 1, 2012, http://www.nytimes.
com/2012/06/01/world/middleeast/obama-ordered-wave-of-cyberattacks-against-iran.html.
Finnemore and Sikkink. “International Norm Dynamics and Political Change,” October 1, 1998.
Valeriano and Maness. Cyber War versus Cyber Realities; Rid, Cyber War Will Not Take Place.
For a collection of authors challenging the cyber threat perception, see ‘The Cyberskeptics,‘ Cato Institute, http://www.cato.
org/research/cyberskeptics.
Rid. Cyber War Will Not Take Place; Valeriano and Maness. Cyber War versus Cyber Realities.
See similar remarks made by Jason Healey at Atlantic Council’s panel on ‘Waging Cyber Conflict’, https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=aTKk4CSC9EM.

142

is still no shortage of ‘cyber sceptics’,43 even if the vexing attribution problem werehypothetically to go away.44
The Ukraine case study, at least, suggests that cyber has not yet ‘changed the game’in terms of state vs. state cyber attacks that destroy physical infrastructure. More likely,
it can be understood as one additional weapon in a state’s arsenal, and that existingnorms – both legal and political – governing traditional state-to-state actions are still
followed as if they were applying to other, more conventional attack methods.
As of October 2015, the examples of cyber incidents in the Ukraine crisis allow
us to make tentative observations about the other proposed norms of behaviours(2, 3, and 4). In respect of norm number 2, there have been no reported allegationsof interference with the work of the national CERTs. However, although some personal communications may have continued, there have been few official CERT to
CERT discussions since the conflict began.45 Against number 3, there have been no
published reports of recent Russo-Ukrainian cybercrime investigations,46 but that
may be too much to hope for given that the two countries are currently in open
conflict. However, the fact that Russia is unwilling to accede to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime does not stand in its favour.
The final norm, number 4, which asks states not to steal intellectual property
via cyber means, is also likely not followed, given the two countries’ current state of
hostilities and numerous reports of ongoing cyber espionage. Adopting the norm
concerning cyber espionage is in any case fraught with challenges, as its primarynorm entrepreneur, the US, has been heavily criticised by both allies and adversaries in the wake of the Snowden revelations. Further, it can be difficult – if not highly
subjective – to determine whether any given attack was intended for political or
economic gain. On a global level, cyber espionage appears to be a silently accepted
norm. The latest UN GGE (2015), for example, did not mention it in its latest publication, signalling that the international community is currently not motivated toaddress the topic, and its global curtailment, at least in the short term, is unlikely.

5

Conclusion

The Ukraine case study suggests that, during this conflict, nation-states have notadhered to many of the proposed ‘political’ cyber norms covered in this chapter.
Hence, it is doubtful that these rules will be globally accepted in the near future.
43
44
45
46

See, for example, note 40 on ‘The Cyberskeptics’, and discussion between Jarno Limnéll and Thomas Rid. ‘Is Cyberwar Real?,‘Foreign Affairs, March/April 2014, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/global-commons/2014-02-12/cyberwar-real.
See, for example, Martin Libicki. ‘Would Deterrence in Cyberspace Work Even with Attribution?,‘ Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, April 22, 2015, http://journal.georgetown.edu/would-deterrence-in-cyberspace-work-even-with-attribution/.
Conversations with Ukrainian cyber security experts.
Brian Ries. ‘Gang of Cyber Criminals on the Run in Ukraine and Russia,‘Mashable, June 3, 2014, http://mashable.
com/2014/06/03/cyber-criminals-russia-ukraine-gameover-zeus/; Tom Brewster. ‘Trouble with Russia, Trouble with the Law:
Inside Europe’s Digital Crime Unit’ The Guardian, April 15, 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/apr/15/european-cyber-crime-unit-russia.

143

First, the known cyber operations appear contrary to the letter and spirit of theCode of Conduct as most of the incidents can be seen as part of the larger information war. Second, most of the norms advocated by the US were also breached as
cyber espionage was widely reported, and international cooperation between thetwo nation’s CERTs and law enforcement agencies has been absent.
As a positive sign for international security, there have been no reports of destructive cyber attacks against CI in Ukraine. This appears to go against what one could
expect to see in a modern military conflict. Is this a sign that the norm of not using
cyber to harm CI – as also recently advocated by the UN GGE – is likely to be globally accepted and followed in the future? Hopefully, as this potential norm is perhaps
the most important in terms of strengthening international cyber security and stability. As of October 2015, the Ukraine conflict appears to indicate that cyber operations have not yet (contrary
to popular belief) substanCyber operations have not yet (contrary
tially challenged the existto popular belief) substantially chaling norms governing state
lenged the existing norms governing
behaviour in conflict situations.
state behaviour in conflict situations.

Chapter 16

Northern European
Cyber Security in Lightof the Ukraine War
Jarno Limnéll
Aalto University

1

Introduction

The Ukraine war is a game changer in the international security environment, and its
ramifications in Northern Europe are profound. Numerous countries in the region
feel that their national security is directly threatened, especially those bordering Russia. New NATO members Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland are seeking concrete
forms of reassurance from Washington and Brussels, while non-members like Sweden and Finland have reinforced their ties with the NATO Alliance. The Nordic andBaltic countries have sought a closer partnership during the Ukraine war, and this hascreated an opportunity to advance their regional cyber security dialogue.
Received wisdom states that small countries, especially those located next to a
big country, are most at risk when international security breaks down, and that big
states do what they want while small states do what they must. During the war in
Ukraine, northern European countries have been forced to re-evaluate their relationship with NATO as well as their preparedness against Russia’s ‘hybrid warfare’
which blends conventional and unconventional operations, regular and irregulartactics, information warfare, and cyber warfare. Cyber threats in particular havebeen an integral part of these ongoing discussions, as northern European countries
have been subjected to various forms of cyber attack during the Ukraine war.
This chapter concentrates on two of Russia’s neighbours that have always beenin the ‘realist’ camp in term of their national security policy: Finland and Esto-

145

nia. The response of each nation to the Ukraine crisis has been different, reflecting
their traditional approaches to foreign and security policy as well as their existingties to NATO. Yet these two nations have much in common: a fundamental interest in regional stability, Western unity, a norms-based view of international order,interdependence, and an essential need for cooperation in the field of foreign andsecurity policy. These same principles drive both nations’ prevailing views on bothinformation security and cyber security – two issues which are sometimes distinct,
and sometimes closely related.

2

Finland: Coming to Terms with Hybrid Warfare‘Is Finland really getting ready for war with Russia?’ An American news channel
posed this question in May 2015, when nearly a million Finnish military reservists
received letters detailing their assigned duties in a crisis situation.1 In fact, the correspondence was unrelated to Russia’s annexation of Crimea or its ongoing war in
Ukraine, but the media attention that this event generated speaks volumes about theage-old nature of the Russo-Finnish relationship.
Historically, Finland´s national security strategy has almost exclusively been
focused on Russia, and Finns have been following the war in Ukraine extremely
closely. From the beginning, Finland has condemned Russia´s activities in its largest
European neighbour. Finnish President Sauli Niinistö summarised the current situation well: ‘We have a long history with Russia — not that peaceful all the time. So
everything the Russians are doing, surely the Finns notice and think very carefully
about what that might mean’.2 Defence Minister Carl Haglund was more direct inhis choice of words: ‘Russia says one thing but does another. I do not trust Russia
at all’.3
The concept of ‘cyber’ is rather new in the Finnish language.4 It was institutionalised in 2013, when Finland published its National Cyber Security Strategy, which
described cyber security as ‘the desired end state in which the cyber domain is reliable and in which its functioning is ensured’.5 Public discussion of the importanceof cyber security is a natural outgrowth of Finland being one of the most advanced
information societies in the world, a country that relies heavily on the proper functioning of myriad electronic networks and services. For years, there has been an
active societal debate in Finland on topics such as public-private partnerships incyberspace, the need for better legislation, the development of cyber defence capabilities within the Finnish Defence Forces, and much more.
1
2
3
4
5

Holly Ellyatt. ‘Is Finland really getting ready for war with Russia?’CNBC, May 25, 2015.
Griff Witte. ‘Finland feeling vulnerable amid Russian provocations,’ The Washington Post, November 23, 2014, 6.
Gerard O’Dwyer. ‘Finland Brushes Off Russian Overtunes,’ DefenseNews, February 15, 2015, http://www.defensenews.com/
story/defense/international/2015/02/15/finland-russia-border-relationship/23301883/.
Jarno Limnéll. ‘Kyber rantautui Suomeen,’ Aalto University Publication Series 12/2014, Helsinki 2014. Concepts like information security or computer security have been used for decades in the Finnish language.
Secretariat of the Security Committee, Finland´s Cyber Security Strategy, Government Resolution 24.1.2013, 1.

146

In Finland, there has been intense analytical focus on Russia´s traditional
warfare capabilities (including in Ukraine), but there has been limited discussion
regarding Russia’s cyber activities. Finnish analysts have noticed Russian cyber espionage in Ukraine, Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks against Ukraine,and the disruption by pro-Russian hackers
It has not been necessaryof Ukrainian media and telecommunications networks.6 However, most Finnish
for Russia to use its morecyber experts have been surprised thatstrategic cyber capabilities.
cyber attacks have not played a greater rolein the conflict, and frankly, we expected to see more. According to our analysis, theprimary reason for this is likely that Ukraine is simply not a very cyber-dependent
country; therefore, Russia could better fulfil its national security agenda by othermeans, as cyber attacks may not have the desired effect. As a consequence, it has notbeen necessary for Russia to use its more strategic cyber capabilities.
In Finland, one change has been a deeper appreciation of the seriousness ofcyber espionage, and this is partly due to Russia´s cyber activity in Ukraine. For the
first time, Finland has accused Russia of carrying out intelligence activities – both
physical and cyber – within its territory. In the past, Finnish Security Police reports
had only vaguely mentioned that some ‘foreign countries’ had engaged in espionage
against Finland.
Cyber threats from Russia have been viewed in Finland primarily in the context of ‘hybrid’ warfare, which is understood in Finland to be a more intelligent
or efficient way to wage war because it seeks to achieve political goals without theextensive use of traditional violence. Using a range of tools such as cyber attacks,
economic pressure, information operations, and limited physical attacks to generate uncertainty in the mind of the general population, an aggressor may be able toachieve its desired political goals.
In Finland, it is understood that modern Russian warfare puts great emphasis
on cyber and electronic warfare. In particular, Russian activities in Ukraine havespurred Finland to strengthen its military and societal defences. The new Finnish Government programme puts it this way: ‘The Government will strengthen
the comprehensive concept of security nationally, in the EU and in international
cooperation. This applies, in particular, to new and large-scale threats, such as thedefence against hybrid attacks, cyber attacks and terrorism’.7
From a Nordic perspective, one of the most alarming aspects of the Ukraine
crisis has been Russian attempts to wage information warfare to influence public
opinion. Finnish media – and even ordinary Finns – have discussed this dynamic indetail. Even the Finnish Prime Minister has openly stated that there is an ongoing
6
7

Jarno Limnéll. ‘Ukraine crisis proves cyber conflict is a reality of modern warfare,’ The Telegraph, April 19, 2014, http://www.
telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet-security/10770275/Ukraine-crisis-proves-cyber-conflict-is-a-reality-of-modern-warfare.html.
Prime Minister´s Office, Strategic Programme of Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s Government, Government Publications 12/2015,
May 29, 2015, 38.

147

information war in Ukraine. Finns have noted pro-Russian ‘trolling’, or the aggressive use of online arguments and false information toeing the Kremlin line. Suchtactics increased significantly as the
One of the most alarming
Ukraine crisis escalated.8 In the flood of
Finnish, English and Russian troll mesaspects of the Ukraine crisis
the same phrases are constantly
has been Russian attempts to sages,
repeated: Russia and President Vladiwage information warfare to mir Putin are idolised and the military
operations of Russia in Ukraine are jusinfluence public opinion.
tified – or simply denied. The Russian
Embassy in Helsinki has active Facebook and Twitter accounts; on Twitter, @russianembfinla has retweeted pro-Russia trolls and the (often anonymous) tweets ofanti-Western voices, blocked Finnish journalists critical of Russia, distributed photos of Ukrainian civilian casualties, and altered the messages of Finnish tweeters.
There are numerous vexing challenges. For example, it is difficult to prepare
countermeasures for an attack that is outsourced to hacker groups that lie outside
normal state structures. In Ukraine, these are theoretically separatist groups in
Crimea and eastern Ukraine. Cyberspace is the ideal place to wage anonymous – orat least plausibly deniable – operations.
For Finnish defence planning, the increased use of hybrid warfare does not mean
forgetting more traditional military threats to our nation, but it does complicate
matters – especially societal preparedness. Cyber attacks are now an integral partof all conflicts and wars, and they are blurring the line between peace and war. As
Finland´s President Niinistö stated:‘With hybrid warfare, we are facing a substantial change in military
operations. The boundary between actual war and other exercise of
power is becoming blurred. Means of cyber war and information war are
becoming increasingly important. It is now possible to fight a war without actually being at war. At the same time, conflict escalation is setting
new speed records, as we saw for instance in the Crimea.’ 93

Estonia: Cyber Attacks and NATO Article 5

In 2007, Estonia became the first country in the world to be targeted by a coordinated international cyber attack which came in retaliation for Tallinn’s decision to
relocate a World War II monument from the centre of Tallinn to a military cemetery89Finland’s national public-broadcasting company YLE gathered a large amount of information on pro-Russia trolling. ‘Yle
Kioski Investigated: This is How Pro-Russia Trolls Manipulate Finns Online – Check the List of Forums Favored by Propagandists,’ last modified June 24, 2015. http://kioski.yle.fi/omat/troll-piece-2-english.
Speech by President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö at the ambassador seminar, August 26, 2014. http://www.presidentti.fi/
public/default.aspx?contentid=311373&nodeid=44807&contentlan=2&culture=en-US.

148

on the outskirts of the city. Today, Estonia is considered to be a world leader in all
things digital, including cyber security.10 Estonia’s current Cyber Strategy notes thatthe environment is growing more dangerous: ‘The amount and activeness of states
capable of cyber-attacks are increasing’.11
Estonia has been subjected to pressure from Moscow for years, but Russian
cyber espionage in Estonia’s government and commercial affairs is also getting
worse. Therefore, when tensions began to rise in Ukraine, Estonia was one of thefirst nations to sound the alarm. In late 2014, Estonia´s Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas declared that ‘[w]e, in Estonia, fully understand that challenges may arise fromother directions, including in the cyber domain’.12
Russian´s annexation of Crimea has raised fears in the Baltic states that they
could be the next victims of Russian aggression. In all three countries, there aremany people alive today who personally witnessed Russian tactics similar to those
now on display in Ukraine. Both Latvia and Estonia have large Russian-speaking
minorities living within their borders.
Estonia is different from Finland in one key regard – its NATO membership.
Estonia´s President Toomas Hendrik Ilves is an active figure in NATO security
and policy circles, particularly those that relate to cyber: ‘Shutting down a country
with a cyberattack would be very difficult but not impossible. If you did that, why
wouldn’t that be a case for Article 5 action?’ Article 5 of the NATO Charter statesthat any attack on one member of the Alliance can be viewed as an attack on all. At
the NATO Wales Summit in 2014, in part due to Ilves´s tireless work, NATO ministers ratified a policy stating that not only conventional and nuclear attacks, but also
cyber attacks, may lead to an invocation of Article 5.13,14
In the past, a NATO ally under cyber attack could convene a group to consult on
the attack, but not call on allies to respond in any way. With cyber attacks now fallingunder Article 5, NATO members now have the option of doing so. This is a major
shift in policy, given that cyber warfare is still largely shrouded in mystery and secrecy.
National cyber capabilities tend to be highly classified. Therefore, despite differing
capabilities, viewpoints, and thresholds (after all, what Estonia might consider to be
an intolerable assault on its sovereignty might not be seen the same way in Brussels or
Washington) this was a significant event in that a public announcement that NATOmight respond to a cyber attack as it would to a kinetic or traditional attack has tangible value in the realm of international military deterrence.
During the conflict in Ukraine, DDoS attacks against Estonia have been surprisingly few. In fact, despite expectations, the past year has been unusually calm
10
11
12
13
14

According to the global cyber security index of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Estonia is ranked fifth in
the world in the field, and according to the recently published Business Software Alliance (BSA) report, Estonia, Austria andNetherlands are the most cyber-secure countries in Europe.
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, Cyber Security Strategy 2014-2017, 2014, 5.
Ashish Kumar Sen. ‘Estonia´s Prime Minister: NATO Presence Key to Counter Russia´s Provocations,’ Atlantic Council, December 11, 2014.
NATO, ‘Wales Summit Declaration,’ September 5, 2014. http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_112964.htm.
E.g. Roger Boyes. ‘NATO must respond to Russian cyber assault,’ The Times, April 3, 2015.

149

compared to the previous year.15 In 2013, the level was much higher: for example,
the websites of the Ministry of Defence and the Estonian Defence Forces were both
hit by DDoS, for which responsibility was claimed by ‘Anonymous Ukraine’.16 Alsoin 2013, the website of Estonian railway company Elron (which happens to be themost popular Google search term in Estonia) was defaced with messages claimingthat passenger train traffic had been halted as a result of a NATO military exercise.17
Earlier the same day, the website of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centreof Excellence (NATO CCD COE) came under DDoS attack (Anonymous Ukraine
again claimed responsibility). At NATO Headquarters in Belgium, several websites
have been targeted during the Ukraine war, as well as NATO’s unclassified e-mailsystem. NATO officials have described these attacks as serious assaults, but also said
that they did not pose any risk to NATO´s classified networks.18
The hacker group ‘Cyber Berkut’ said the attacks were carried out by patriotic
Ukrainians angry over NATO interference in their country, and also stated that
NATO CCD COE experts had been in Ukraine training ‘cyber terrorists’. Althoughattribution of cyber attacks to specific actors and nations is difficult, technical analysis of the Cyber Berkut’s domains as well as the nature of its propaganda strongly
suggest ties to Russia.19
Since the beginning of 2014, however, Estonian cyberspace has been unusuallycalm. Like Finland, Estonia has seen espionage, pro-Russia trolling on Estonian
web forums, and propaganda, but little in the way of malware or computer exploits.
Estonians feel that the ‘hostile information flow’ from Russia is aimed at creating
and widening rifts between native Estonians and ethnic Russians (Moscow does
not see normal relations as beneficial to its current foreign policy). For example,
on 4 March 2015, the television channel Rossiya-1 (a key source of information formany ethnic Russians in the Baltic region) aired a satirical anti-Nazi video that wassaid to be ‘proof ’ of Estonia’s support for Nazism.20 In response, Estonia will create its own Russian-language TV channel, to be launched in September 2015 by astate-financed public broadcaster, that will seek to empower the local ethnic Russian
identity.21
A NATO member only since 2004, Estonia today occupies a highly visible
position within the Alliance. Thus, the hybrid military campaign that Russia haslaunched in Crimea and in eastern Ukraine almost forces NATO to take proactive
steps to guard against the use of such tactics in the Baltic states, if not to rethinksome of its defence strategies altogether. As Estonia´s Defence Minister Sven Mikser stated, ‘We have reason to believe that Russia views the Baltic region as one
15
16
17
18
19
20
21

Private conversations with Estonian officials.
CERT-EE kokkuvõte, ‘Hajusad ummistusründed, võltsitud saatjaga e-kirjad ning näotustamised 1.-7. Novembril 2013, aka#OpIndependence,’ https://www.ria.ee/public/CERT/opindependence.pdf.
E.g. Ronald Liive. ‘Väide Regnumilt: NATO suurõppuse käigus rünnati ekslikult ehtsaid veebilehti,’ Forte, November 13, 2013.
‘NATO websites hit in cyber attack linked to Crimea tension,’ Reuters, March 16, 2014.
Rodrigo, ‘Cyber Berkut Graduates from DDoS Stunts to Purveyor of Cyber Attack Tools,’ Cyber Threat Intelligence, June 8,
2015. https://www.recordedfuture.com/cyber-berkut-analysis/.
Ott Ummelas. ‘Estonia Must Counter Hostile Russian Propaganda,’ Bloomberg Business, March 25, 2015.
Silver Tambur. ‘EER’s new Russian-language TV channel will be called ETV+,’ April 20, 2015.

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of NATO’s most vulnerable areas, a place where NATO’s resolve and commitment
could be tested’.22
Today, cyber security is increasingly seen as playing a vital role in national security affairs, both in and out of NATO. For its part, Estonia is already sharing its cybersecurity experience and expertise with Ukraine, including the organisation of large
cyber security drills. And finally, Estonia has one major advantage on its side: it ishome to the NATO CCD COE, whose symbolic importance to Estonia has grown
rapidly.

4

Conclusion: David vs. Goliath in Cyberspace

Finland and Estonia both rank among the world’s most connected and cyber security-savvy countries.23 In both nations, there is a high degree of dependence on theinternet, as well as a deep appreciation for the strategic nature of modern networks
and the need to secure them. Therefore, both Finland and Estonia are at the forefront of the nations creating cyber norms in the world.24
The need to prepare defences against modern hybrid warfare forces governments, including those of Finland and Estonia, to take steps sooner rather thanlater. There will be conflicts in which the regular armed forces of a foreign state are
not the most active participants. Some of the attacks may occur entirely in cyberspace, and the attackers might even remain anonymous. In the internet era, a wide
range of national laws must be re-examined and contingencies rehearsed, so thatdecision-makers have the best possible tools to respond to the challenges of hybrid
warfare in the future.
Russia is far larger and more populous than both Finland and Estonia, but traditional notions of size – especially in the globalised internet era – is not the only
determining factor on the cyber battlefield. Smaller countries such as Finland andEstonia, with a strong heritage of technical capability and experience, may possess
some advantages that not even great powers could dream of. In the near term, Finland will continue to strengthen its
Smaller countries with a strong
defences independently, while Estonia
will continue to emphasise NATO´sheritage of technical capability
Article 5. In the long term, Finland andand experience may possess
Estonia will continue to punch abovesome advantages that not even
their weight in the cyber domain –great powers could dream of.
especially relative to their size.
22
23
24

Geoff Dyer. ‘NATO shifts strategy in Europe to deal with Russia threat,’ Financial Times, June 23, 2015.
Global Cybersecurity Index and Cyberwellness Profiles. International Telecommunications Union, April 2015 http://www.itu.
int/dms_pub/itu-d/opb/str/D-STR-SECU-2015-PDF-E.pdf.
See e.g. Jarno Limnéll. ‘Can Finland Act As a Mediator on Cyber Norms?’ Council on Foreign Relations, May 28, 2015, http://
blogs.cfr.org/cyber/2015/05/28/can-finland-act-as-a-mediator-on-cyber-norms/.

Chapter 17

What’s Next for Putin
in Ukraine: Cyber Escalation?
Jason Healey
Michelle Cantos
Columbia University

1

Introduction

We may be facing the internet’s most dangerous moment.
From the earliest days of cyber intelligence, a rule of thumb was that ‘those withthe capability to cause significant cyber disruption lack the intent; those with theintent lack the capability’.1 Somegovernments, including the United
We may be facing the internet’s
States, Russia, and China, have always
most dangerous moment.
had the capability, but have lacked the
motivation to bring down the internet. However, times change, and Vladimir Putin,
now facing strong sanctions and a weak rouble, could choose to retaliate against theWest in the form of ‘little green bytes’. US and European economies may, in fact, benatural targets, carrying the implicit message: if you seriously affect Russia’s financial health, you too will feel the pain.
1

Matthew Devost. ‘Risk of cyber terrorism raised at seminar,’ Massey University News, September 12, 2002, http://www.massey.
ac.nz/~wwpubafs/2002/news_release/13_09_02a.html.

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Conflict in cyberspace offers adversaries many possibilities and Putin has
numerous options. In the near term, there are four obvious scenarios: local instability, intimidation, frozen cyber conflict, and coercion.
The first option, local instability, would exclusively target Ukraine, causing cyberdisruption in the hope of keeping the country prostrate while trying to avoid escalation with the West and a tightening of sanctions. In the second option, intimidation,
Putin would use cyber capabilities against the West to mirror his existing recipeof strategic threats, military exercises, submarine deployments, nuclear threats andnuclear-capable bomber flights. A further escalation here could be a third option– a frozen cyber conflict, where techniques of hybrid warfare are used to try formedium-term disruption to the internet itself. The fourth option, coercion, would
go beyond local disruption and provocations and would attempt to use cyber force
to disrupt Western economic and military targets. This last scenario is the mostdangerous of all, potentially signifying a calculation by Putin that Russia has little
remaining stake in the global economic game. In that case, why not upend the table
and ruin the party for everyone?

2

Local Instability: Frozen Conflict with a Topping of Cyber

In the least aggressive scenario, Putin would escalate only within Ukraine in an
attempt to further destabilise and delegitimise the existing government. The ‘little
green bytes’ might deny service to Ukrainian government and media sites, or eventarget critical infrastructure. As in other post-Soviet frozen conflicts, the goal is notnecessarily to prevail, but rather to keep Ukraine destabilised for years and unable
to pose any challenge.
As noted elsewhere in this book, the Russians, due to their legacy from the Moscow-dominated Soviet Union, have an extensive knowledge of Ukrainian systems.
Most of Ukraine’s infrastructure is well understood – if not designed by – Russian
enterprises, so exploiting them for cyber attack would be far easier than for a typicalcyber campaign elsewhere. There may also be a sufficient number of insiders who
are friendly to Russia, and who could either be bribed or blackmailed into leaking sensitive government materials, disseminating propaganda, installing malicious
software, or even physically destroying key systems.
Russia has shown some of its digital arsenal. Cyber espionage campaigns suchas ‘Sandworm’ have played a role in intelligence collection operations against the
Ukrainian government and some NATO nations, even taking advantage of multiple
zero-day exploits.2
The local instability cyber option could allow Putin to maintain pressure on
Ukraine while avoiding an increase in tensions with the West. He might even be
2‘iSIGHT discovers zero-day vulnerability CVE-2014-4114 used in Russian cyber-espionage campaign,’ iSight, October 14,
2014, http://www.isightpartners.com/2014/10/cve-2014-4114/.

154

able to accomplish this while claiming to be de-escalating the conflict. Russia, in this
scenario, would only launch disruptive cyber attacks within Ukraine, not against
other targets in the West, and attempting to limit the upper bound of escalation. Theinternational community might be happy, however, to countenance a ‘cyber war’in Ukraine if it caused little tangible damage to other countries, limited the bodycount, and generated fewer disturbing media images.

3

Intimidation: Cyber Provocations and Escalation

A second option for Putin is to send a digital warning shot across the West’s cyber bow,in effect saying that Russia has additional cards up its sleeve and may play them if necessary. Russia is already escalating all sorts of military operations against the West, frommassive exercises and military flights to nuclear threats. ‘Little green bytes’ could therefore be just one additional form of provocation to add instability on the world stage.
Such attacks would be just-deniable-enough and might target defence and military systems and networks. Russia could target allies with weaker defences, or governments which Putin might calculate as being easier political prey, and more susceptible to Russian coercion.
This cyber escalation would simply be a natural extension of Putin’s provocative behaviour in other military forces. In the last fifteen months, Russia has apparently sneaked submarines into Swedish and Finnish territorial waters, stating that
Finland’s growing ties with NATO were a ‘special concern’;3 flown jet fighters andnuclear-capable bombers along the periphery of Europe; and buzzed NATO ships
including the US guided-missile destroyer USS Ross as it sailed in international
waters off the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula.4
Apart from drilling his conventional forces, Putin in the spring of 2014 organised large-scale exercises designed to assess the preparedness level of his nuclear
forces.5 In the context of Russia’s nuclear threats against Denmark, these appear
to be calculated (if clumsy) efforts tointimidate the West.6
Estonia in 2007 was a blueprint
The Russian cyber assault on
for a geopolitically inspired andEstonia in 2007 was a blueprint for ajust-deniable-enough digital
geopolitically inspired and just-deniable-enough digital disruption. Whendisruption.
3
4
5
6‘Finnish military fires depth charges at suspected submarine,’ Reuters, April 28, 2015, http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/28/us-finland-navy-idUSKBN0NJ0Y120150428.
Barbara Starr. ‘Russian planes, U.S. warship have close encounter near Crimea,’ CNN, June 1, 2015, http://www.cnn.
com/2015/06/01/politics/russia-plane-navy-uss-ross/.
Bill Gertz. ‘Russia Conducts Large-Scale Nuclear Attack Exercise,’ Washington Free Beacon, May 8, 2014, http://freebeacon.
com/national-security/russia-conducts-large-scale-nuclear-attack-exercise/.
Adam Withnall. ‘Russia threatens Denmark with nuclear weapons if it tries to join NATO defence shield,’ The Independent,
March 22, 2015, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-threatens-denmark-with-nuclear-weapons-if-ittries-to-join-nato-defence-shield-10125529.html.

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the Estonian government decided to move a Soviet war memorial from the centre ofits capital Tallinn to a military cemetery on the outskirts of town, Russia responded
by encouraging ‘patriotic hackers’ to engage in a three week long Distributed Denial-Of-Service (DDoS) attack against numerous sectors of the Estonian economy
including the government, media, and financial institutions.7 This template relies
on a combination of threats, cyber capabilities, the use of proxies, and plausible
deniability.
Russia might alternately hold off on such disruptive attacks in favour of increasingly aggressive espionage. In fact, it seems an escalation in such intrusions isalready underway.
Russian state-sponsored hackers are believed to have recently compromised the
US Department of State, then used that access to penetrate the unclassified networkof the Executive Office of the President.8,9 Unlike during previous intrusions linked
to Russia, on this occasion the digital spies did not back out of the system once they
were discovered, but fought back in order to maintain their foothold in the network.10 Investigators also believe that Russian spies were behind the recent intrusion
into the unclassified email of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, an intrusion which forced thePentagon to take the system down for several days.11

4Freezing the Conflict in Cyberspace

Rather than, or in addition to, using cyber to help destabilise the Ukraine, Putin
might try to make the internet itself a new zone of frozen conflict. This option isperhaps not as likely as the others, but might offer Putin an intriguing possibility:
inflict on the internet, which delivers ‘harmful’ content in the form of unwanted
truths to Russian citizens, just enough long-term disruption so that it is less useful,less trusted, and less an enabler to Western economies and societies.
In this option, Putin’s forces would use cyber capabilities to periodically disrupt
core internet infrastructure such as the domain name system, or frequently takedown Western information providers. Each new week could see a large-scale denial-of-service attack.
This option differs from the previous ‘intimidation’ option in two ways. First,
the attacks would be far more disruptive than mere shows of force. Compared to
7
8
9
10
11

Ian Traynor. ‘Russia accused of unleashing cyberwar to disable Estonia,’ The Guardian, May 16, 2007, http://www.theguardian.
com/world/2007/may/17/topstories3.russia.
Evan Perez and Shimon Prokupecz. ‘Sources: State Dept. hack the ‘worst ever’,’ CNN, March 10, 2015, http://www.cnn.
com/2015/03/10/politics/state-department-hack-worst-ever/index.html.
Ellen Nakashima. ‘Hackers breach some White House computers,’ The Washington Post, October 28, 2014, http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/hackers-breach-some-white-house-computers/2014/10/28/2ddf2fa0-5ef7-11e491f7-5d89b5e8c251_story.html.
Michael S. Schmidt and David E. Sanger. ‘Russian Hackers Read Obama’s Unclassified Emails, Officials Say,’ New York Times,
April 25, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/us/russian-hackers-read-obamas-unclassified-emails-officials-say.html
Nancy A. Youssef. ‘Russians Hacked Joint Chiefs of Staff,’ The Daily Beast, August 6, 2015, http://www.thedailybeast.com/
cheats/2015/08/06/russians-hacked-joint-chiefs-of-staff.html.

156

the intimidation option where Russia threatens force to avoid a conflict, in this frozen-conflict option, Putin already accepts Western nations as adversaries. The goalis therefore not to get them to back down, but hopefully to destabilise the internet
just enough to deny cyber benefits to his perceived enemies.

5

Coercion: Escalate to De-escalate

The most aggressive option for Putin
What if, Sony-style, one bank a
is to use cyber capabilities to disrupt
week were targeted for a disrupthe economies of the West. Imagine
tive and embarrassing attack?
a massive, long-term and continuing
attack against the West’s financial system or power grids. What if, Sony-style, one bank a week were to be targeted for a
disruptive and embarrassing attack?
Russia in the past had, along with at least the United States and China, the capability to conduct such attacks, but lacked the intent. Russia had disagreements with
the West but was not engaged in any real conflict. Further, to some extent, Russia
needed healthy Western economies to itself thrive.
That situation has changed. Today, Putin may well see himself in a conflict with
the West, perhaps even a shooting war, and feel the very survival of his regime
could be at stake. In 2013, sanctions including asset freezes and export prohibitions pushed Russia to the brink of a recession, and the economy grew by only
1.3%.12 By the end of 2015, the World Bank predicts that ongoing sanctions coupled with the decrease in oil prices will shrink the Russian economy by 3.8%.13
Putin could calculate that Russia has few remaining stakes in the global economy
and financial system.
Without international economic entanglement, it is far easier for Putin to use
Russia’s impressive cyber capabilities to try to directly coerce (rather than threaten)
the West. By inflicting economic turmoil, he could turn Russia’s lack of a stake in the
global financial system from a liability into an asset. With nothing to lose and everything to gain, Putin might calculate that unleashing his just-deniable-enough ‘little
green bytes’ against Western economies could be a win-win situation for Russia.
Russia is already pushing the idea that they may need to ‘escalate to de-escalate’a brewing conflict with the West. In an extensive article in Vox, Max Fisher lays out
the evidence that the world is ever closer to conflict, even a world war, and especiallythat Putin ‘has enshrined, in Russia’s official nuclear doctrine, a dangerous idea noSoviet leader ever adopted: that a nuclear war could be winnable’.14
12
13
14

‘How far do EU-US sanctions on Russia go?’ BBC, September 15, 2014, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28400218
Andrey Ostroukh. ‘Russia’s Economic Outlook Worse Than Thought, World Bank Says,’ The Wall Street Journal, April 1, 2015,
http://www.wsj.com/articles/russias-economic-outlook-worse-than-thought-world-bank-says-1427883522.
Max Fisher. ‘How World War III Became Possible,’ Vox, June 29, 2015, http://www.vox.com/2015/6/29/8845913/russia-war.

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In that light, cyber weapons may offer an even more attractive opportunity giventhat cyber effects can be temporary and reversible. Russian Deputy Prime Minister
Dmitry Rogozin has already declared that Russian tanks ‘don’t need visas’ to crossinternational borders.15 If Russia is willing to make nuclear threats and roll T-72s acrossborders, then how much more likely are attacks using faster, more deniable, electrons?
One obvious target would be Western financial firms that currently enforce thesanctions against Russia. Many analysts believe that Iran chose precisely this formof retaliation in 2012, in response to Stuxnet.16 Other obvious targets could be theoil, gas, or electricity sectors, in order to raise the price of oil.
During our research for this chapter, several security analysts stated that Russia
may be preparing for this contingency with its Havex and BlackEnergy cyber campaigns.17 In both cases, Russian government hackers apparently targeted Westernenergy companies, not for espionage, but in order to prepare for a potential follow-on disruptive attack. It appears Russia has proved that it has the required capabilities already in place to disrupt Western energy systems, now it is just a matter ofhaving the intent.
Or Putin could focus his cyber attack not against sectors, but against specificWestern allies; those he felt would be most likely to submit to coercive pressure. His
whispered promise might be something along the lines of ‘Drop your support for
sanctions and all these cyber failures you’re experiencing can just go away.’ Countries which might not have been fully committed to the sanctions in the first place
might not need much convincing.

6

Conclusion

Cyberspace – and cyber attacks – offer many ways, especially for a capable nationstate, to target an adversary. In the current conflict, the most likely near-term options
for Russia are perhaps local instability, intimidation and coercion. Of course, thescenarios discussed in this chapter are not mutually exclusive; Putin could jump
between them or even employ them all simultaneously.
Fortunately to help analyse Russia’s cyber current actions, it may be enough toanalyse his actions in the physical world: Russian hostility in Europe is likely to bematched with Russian hostility online. If this process starts to get out of control,then Western leaders have to be at their highest level of concern.
If Putin believes he is approaching a use-it-or-lose-it situation for his autocratic
regime and its stolen billions, he may just decide to take the internet down with him.
15
16
17

‘Russian Official: ‘Tanks Don’t Need Visas’, Defense One/Agence France-Presse, May 25, 2015, http://www.defensenews.com/
story/defense/international/europe/2015/05/25/russian-official-tanks-need-visas/27924351/.
Siobhan Gorman and Julian Barnes. ‘Iran Blamed for Cyberattacks,’ The Wall Street Journal, October 12, 2012, http://www.wsj.
com/articles/SB10000872396390444657804578052931555576700.
Blake Sobczak and Peter Behr. ‘Secret meetings tackle back-to-back energy-sector cyberthreats,’ EnergyWire, October 31, 2014,
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1060008193.

Chapter 18

Strategic Defence
in Cyberspace:
Beyond Tools and Tactics
Richard Bejtlich
The Brookings Institution

1

Introduction

The digitisation of information, which began during the Second World War, hassignificantly deepened the relationship between human beings (from the individual to the nation-state) and unstructured data, structured information (such as a
databases), and intelligence (information of political or military value). Every partof society has benefited from information technology; however, as we have increasingly become data-reliant, our adversaries have sought to leverage information
against us. Attackers and defenders now battle for access to, and control of, information in the political, economic, military, and social spheres. In military parlance,data has become a virtual ‘high ground’ from which the better-informed can influence an adversary.
The Ukrainian Government currently finds itself at a tactical disadvantage vis-à-vis
Russia, both on the traditional field of battle as well as in cyberspace. However, cybersecurity, especially at the national level, is a strategic game, and Kyiv can make smart
investments that will pay off over the long run. In Ukraine, as in every other nationstate, practitioners, academics, policy-makers, and the public are individually and collectively vexed by the question of how to defend data, information, and intelligence.
Part of the problem is that adversaries do not have one or even several attack strategies
at their disposal: they can steal, destroy, deny access to, or even alter information – aswell as the systems that store, process, and display it to its ostensible owners.

159

Digitised information is a human product which resides in mechanical devices
built by engineers and programmers, and so decision-makers naturally turn to thetechnical community for answers to these challenges. Technical proposals takemany forms. Several frequently appear in policy-making circles: we could scrap theinternet entirely and replace it with a ‘more secure’ alternative;1 we might build
software that is ‘not hackable,’ possibly through ‘leap ahead’ technologies that makedefence easier than offense (which is today manifestly not the case);2 or we can outsource our security to third-party vendors.3 These are all technical ideas, but they
are generally not feasible for a variety of reasons. More fundamentally, it is dangerous to rely solely on technology to mitigate core security problems.

2

The Limitations of Technology-driven Approaches

Technology plays an important role in defending data. Thoughtfully designed
networks, higher quality software, and agile start-ups can frustrate opportunistic
intruders seeking easy prey. Unfortunately, well-resourced, professional attackers
sometimes have long-standing missions to compromise specific high-value targets,
whether for information theft or data manipulation. They will not give up until their
mission requirements change or until they succeed in their assignment.
Digital defenders may only get a glimpse of the intruder, and often this comes
far too late in the game. Whereas the victim’s perspective is usually narrow andincomplete, professional attackers are persistent and know exactly what they are
targeting. According to the Mandiant 2015 M-Trends report, the median number ofdays in 2014 that a successful threat group was present on a victim’s network before
detection, was 205. In one case, an adversary had maintained unauthorised accessfor over 8 years.4 Even after discovery, organisations can spend months trying to
remove the intruder. In February 2015, the Wall Street Journal reported that the US
State Department continued to be plagued
A technology-centric world- by foreign hackers fully three months
confirmed reports of anview obsesses about a static, after the agency
intrusion.5
one-time exchange between
This relationship between security
attacker and defender.
and time is central to protecting digital
1
2
3
4
5

Thom Shanker. ‘Cyberwar Chief Calls for Secure Computer Network,’ New York Times, 23 September 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/us/24cyber.html; John Markoff. ‘Do We Need a New Internet?’ New York Times, 14 February 2009,http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/weekinreview/15markoff.html.
Jim Garamone. ‘DARPA Director Discusses Cyber Security Challenges,’ DoD News, 1 October 2014, http://www.defense.gov/
news/newsarticle.aspx?id=123307.
Over 400 vendors demonstrated their products and services at the RSA Conference in San Francisco, California in April 2015.
RSA Conference 2015 vendors, http://www.rsaconference.com/events/us15/expo-sponsors.
The median number for 2013 was 229 days. FireEye, M-Trends 2015: A View from the Front Lines (Milpitas, CA: FireEye Corporation 2015), https://www2.fireeye.com/rs/fireye/images/rpt-m-trends-2015.pdf.
Danny Yadron. ‘Three Months Later, State Department Hasn’t Rooted Out Hackers,’ Wall Street Journal, 19 February 2015,
http://www.wsj.com/articles/three-months-later-state-department-hasnt-rooted-out-hackers-1424391453.

160

resources. An analysis of time intervals is key to understanding the interaction
between attackers and defenders, but in general the security community does not
sufficiently understand or appreciate the nature and consequences of this relationship. A technology-centric worldview obsesses about a static, one-time exchange
between attacker and defender. This is not an accurate description of the real world,which is populated, not with mindless code, but with rational and irrational humanbeings who are both intelligent and adaptive adversaries and who observe their targets, allocate resources, and make dynamic decisions in order to accomplish theirgoals.6
Digital defenders ignore these facts at their peril. The interactive and time-dependent nature of network attack and defence leads to the promotion of suboptimal
approaches to security. The emphasis on ‘cyber hygiene’ is illustrative.7 To defeat
intruders, this method promotes knowing one’s network, removing unauthorised
systems, patching vulnerabilities, and improving configurations. All of these arecertainly both requisite and commendable defensive steps. However, they are insufficient when confronting an attacker who has the time and resources to adapt to andovercome the target’s defences. ‘Washing cyber hands’ is helpful when minimising
the spread of mindless germs, but it is less effective when those germs are as smart
as, or better-resourced and motivated than, the hand-washer.

3

Strategic Thought in Cyber Defence

To better address the dynamic challenge of continuous interaction between adaptive, intelligent adversaries, this chapter advocates the application of strategic military concepts to conflict in cyberspace. Armed conflict has long been characterised
as a struggle between persistent adversaries over time. However, the advent of massarmies, modern weapons, and nation-state warfare in the late 18th and early 19th
centuries took this concept to a higher level. During the 20th century, military strategists therefore had to think beyond the traditional dichotomy of strategy versus
tactics. Over time, they codified multiple ‘levels of warfare’.
Beginning in the 1980s, U.S. Army doctrine described three levels of war: strategic, operational, and tactical.8 These built on previous writings and lessons learned,
from Napoleonic battles to Soviet military planning. National goals and policy – sitting above the strategic level of war – were incorporated into doctrine, although thiscan be confusing given that the word ‘strategic’ often appeared in both the model’sname and one of its primary elements.
6
7
8John R. Boyd. ‘The Essence of Winning and Losing,’ unpublished PowerPoint presentation, 1985, http://www.danford.net/
boyd/essence.htm.
Jonathan Trull. ‘Practice Makes Perfect: Making Cyber Hygiene Part of Your Security Program,’ CSO Magazine, 3 March 2014,
http://www.csoonline.com/article/2891689/security0/practice-makes-perfect-making-cyber-hygiene-part-of-your-securityprogram.html.
United States Department of the Army, Field Manual 100-5: Operations (Washington, DC: US Army 1982), http://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p4013coll9/id/48/rec/10.

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Policies and Goals|
Strategies|
Operations (including Campaigns)|
Tactics|
Tools
Figure 1-1 – Strategic Thought, Adapted for Digital Conflict
In this chapter, the author argues that decision-makers need to better understandthe role of technology in strategic thought, and so it adds a new level below the tactical layer: ‘tools’. Certainly in physical warfare one uses ‘tools’ to inflict kinetic damage. In the digital world, the model explicitly
introduces tools in order to show practitioners
Too many digital security professionals believe where they fit in strategic thinking. Too many
digital security professionals believe tools aretools are the sole focus
the sole focus of defensive action. By placingof defensive action.
tools at the bottom of the model, they appear,in the author’s opinion, in their proper place.
Furthermore, in this model, the term ‘campaign’ is included at the operational level.
‘Campaigns’ and ‘operations’ are sometimes interchanged, so both appear to reduce
confusion.
These five levels are depicted in Figure 1‑1. Policies and goals are broad statements by organisational leadership that describe the desired purpose of the strategic programme. Strategies are concepts for employing organisational resourcesto accomplish the stated policies and goals. Operations (which in this schema areorganised into campaigns) are sets of activities designed to implement strategies
that are pursued over days, weeks, months, or even years. Tactics are actions taken
within individual encounters with an adversary, and serve as the atomic elementsof a campaign. Tools are the digital equipment with which an actor implements
tactics.

162All of these elements must be connected in order to achieve successful outcomes.
Before explaining how these five levels can improve digital defence, it is importantto recognise that I am not advocating the ‘militarisation’ of cyberspace – which is avalid concern of many analysts. For example, in 2013, Jason Healey wrote in Foreign
Affairs that the military had ‘prioritised one national security goal – more spying
and attack capabilities – above all others’.9 A Forbes journalist defined the problem as ‘giv[ing] a military character to’ it, ‘equip[ping] [it] with military forces anddefences’ or ‘adapt[ing] [it] for military use’,10 This author, while generally disagreeing with these premises, does not equate strategic thought with militarisation. The
purpose of this chapter on strategic thought is to familiarise defenders with anotherstrategy to protect information, one suited to the timescales and interactive natureof modern computer intrusions.

4

Traditional Security within the Strategic Model

Squaring traditional security concepts with the strategic model contributes to a richdiscussion of digital defence. Typically, network defenders concentrate on tools andtactics, which are in turn dominated by the notions of security software, software
security, and securing software. Security software consists of programs written by
vendors, open source developers, and individual security teams that are designed
to detect, frustrate, and remove adversaries. Software security refers to the processof writing computer programs that are free from coding, process, and logic flaws,
optimally using a process such as the Building Security In Maturity Model (BSIMM).11 Securing software is a process to enable the ‘cyber hygiene’ model, whereby
defenders take various tactical steps to reduce the likelihood of compromise.
Beyond the security team, one finds multiple layers of management, including
a chief security or information security officer (CSO or CISO), one or more chief
technology or information officers (CTO or CIO), other members of the so-called‘C-suite’ including the chief financial or operating officers (CFO, COO), and ultimately the chief executive officer (CEO) and board of directors. At the nation-statelevel, some governments have appointed cyber security coordinators reporting to
the head of government. Recent examples include the United States, the United
Kingdom, Germany, Russia, Japan, and France.12 In China, President Xi Jinping
personally leads the country’s top information security group.13 One would think
9
10
11
12
13

Jason Healey. ‘How Emperor Alexander Militarized American Cyberspace,’ Foreign Policy, 6 November 2013, http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/11/06/how-emperor-alexander-militarized-american-cyberspace/.
Sean Lawson. ‘Is the United States Militarizing Cyberspace?’ Forbes, 2 November 2012, http://www.forbes.com/sites/seanlawson/2012/11/02/is-the-united-states-militarizing-cyberspace/.
BSIMM, https://www.bsimm.com/.
French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, ‘France and cyber security,’ http://www.diplomatie.gouv.
fr/en/french-foreign-policy/defence-security/cyber-security/.
Shannon Tiezzi. ‘Xi Jinping Leads China’s New Internet Security Group,’ The Diplomat, 28 February 2014, http://thediplomat.
com/2014/02/xi-jinping-leads-chinas-new-internet-security-group/.

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that, with so much focus on cyber and information security at the upper levels ofmanagement, defence strategies would be clear. However, despite numerous recent
high-profile breaches, security leaders continue to fret that their ‘organisation’s business leadership didn’t provide them the support and space they need to secure theirorganisations properly’.14
Improving the dynamics of strategic thought according to the proven militarymodel can help organisations and nation states move beyond a ‘tools and tactics’
focused approach. The latter is by far the prevailing paradigm. For example, one
2014 RSA Conference presentation encouraged attendees to ‘exploit pet projects’and ‘capitalise on timely events’ by using the ‘near-death experiences of others tojustify security spend’.15 One 2015 article written for security managers stressed
the need for more capable software, stating that ‘a CISO must successfully address
many challenging elements when procuring a new security technology solution’.16
In 2014, Symantec’s Senior Vice President for Information Security said that only
45% of cyber attacks are prevented by anti-virus software, calling it a ‘dead’ technology.17 Writing secure software, while a laudable goal, continues to be difficult,even for leading companies like Microsoft. Bill Gates accelerated the programme
to find a secure development lifecycle in 2002, but the vendor continues to releasepatches for ‘remote code execution’ vulnerabilities in core Microsoft platforms on
a monthly basis. In brief, we need more than tools and tactics to counter digitaladversaries.
When trying to learn how to communicate with higher level managers and
CISOs, agency leads, and policy-makers are bombarded with advice like the following:‘One of the most strategic skills a security chief can bring is the proficiency in translating security speak into the language of business risks
and financial ROI [return on investment] terms... At the board level, theability to show dollar return on security initiatives is critical to ensure
continued executive support on security investments’.18
The problem with the focus on tools and tactics, and related topics of risk andROI is that higher-level management and boards do not feel connected to the true
defensive posture of their organisation. Because leaders have not been valued partsof the security program development process, they think security is mainly an issue
to be solved by technical professionals. Their experience with the IT and security
14
15
16
17
18

George V. Hulme. ‘The CSO’s failure to lead,’ CSO Magazine, 9 June 2014, http://www.csoonline.com/article/2360984/security-leadership/the-cso-s-failure-to-lead.html.
John B. Dickson. ‘Getting Your Security Budget Approved without FUD,’ RSA Conference 2014, http://www.rsaconference.
com/writable/presentations/file_upload/ciso-w04a-getting-your-security-budget-approved-without-fud.pdf.
Craig Shumard. ‘CISOs Face Tough Challenges When Procuring Security Technologies,’ Tenable Network Security, 5 March
2015, http://www.tenable.com/blog/cisos-face-tough-challenges-when-procuring-security-technologies.
Danny Yadron. ‘Symantec Develops New Attack on Cyberhacking,’ Wall Street Journal, 4 May 2014, http://www.wsj.com/
articles/SB10001424052702303417104579542140235850578.
Danelle Au. ‘Getting the CISO a Seat,’ Security Week, 16 July 2012, http://www.securityweek.com/getting-ciso-seat.

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worlds has led them to approach security as an issue of approving budgets to purchase ever-more-costly security software. The Christian Science Monitor reported
the following in February 2015:‘In a survey commissioned by defence contractor Raytheon of 1,006
chief information officers, chief information security officers, and othertechnology executives, 78 percent said their boards had not been briefed
even once on their organisation’s cybersecurity strategy over the past 12
months ... The findings are similar to those reported by PricewaterhouseCoopers in its Global State of Information Security Survey last year inwhich fewer that 42 percent of respondents said their board actively participates in overall security strategy’.19
In light of these challenges, this chapter
advocates making boards and higher-level
managers integral aspects of the security
process, by way of strategic thought.

5This chapter advocates making boards and higher-level
managers integral aspects ofthe security process.

Cyber Security without Strategy

The following scenario will help the reader understand how the application of strategic cyber security principles can better protect digital assets. A private organisation suffers targeted attacks by both criminal and nation-state threat groups, which
not only compromise the organisation but also steal intellectual property including
trade secrets, sensitive commercial data, and other digital resources.
The traditional ‘tools-and-tactics’ security model is characterised by suboptimalcommunication and poor alignment between the management, board, and security
team. The latter, led by the CISO, is determined to counter the adversary. Their first
instinct will be to take some concrete action: to hire new personnel, to develop a
new capability, to adopt a new tactic, or to purchase a new software tool. Next, they
will attempt to translate their plan into ‘business speak’, and the CISO will develop
an argument based on an ROI estimate that includes the cost of the initiative, theamount of money it should save (if all goes well), and a mathematical calculation of
the overall risk to the enterprise.
If asked by the CEO or board to explain his or her rationale, the CISO will replythat a tools-and-tactics approach will save the enterprise money and reduce its levelof risk. Finally, the management will give the proposal a green light, or send the
CISO back to the drawing board.
19

Jaikumar Vijayan. ‘After high-profile hacks, many companies still nonchalant about cybersecurity,’ Christian Science Monitor, 19 February 2015, http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Passcode/2015/0219/After-high-profile-hacks-many-companies-still-nonchalant-about-cybersecurity.

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This budget request cycle is repeated ad nauseam, until management gets wise to
the fact that network security ROI seems to have an Alice-in-Wonderland quality
about it: the more money they spend, the more money they are supposed to save.
Eventually, management realises that security is a lot more about loss prevention
than revenue generation, and they begin to feel disconnected (and disaffected) fromthe defence of their digital resources. Further, they recognise that their organisationis one of many whose boards are not briefed on real strategy, and who have in fact
never participated in serious strategy formulation.

6

Strategic Cyber Security

A strategic cyber security programme, by contrast, does not begin with tools andtactics, but with an articulation of one or more programme goals. First, the strategy-minded CISO gets executive buy-in to those goals. To that end, the CISO must
incorporate all levels of strategic thought, starting with the board and CEO – everyone must feel ownership and participation. The smart CISO recognises that security
is a journey, not a destination, and that relationship building requires an ability totranslate between technical and non-technical vocabularies.
The CISO ensures that the programme goals accurately govern the objectives ofthe enterprise’s digital security programme. In our scenario, the CISO, board, andCEO all agree that, with respect to intellectual property, trade secrets, and sensitive
data, the new policy goal is to minimise loss due to intrusion. This statement implies
that everyone understands that stopping all adversaries and all attacks is simply
not possible, especially when dealing with nation-state actors and some advanced
criminal groups.
The primary objective of this exercise is to achieve consensus on a simply stated,
non-technical programme goal. No in-depth technical discussion is needed toachieve consensus, although the CISO
must ensure that all goals, policies, andThe primary objective isstrategies are technically feasible. With
to achieve consensus on aa mandate in hand, the CISO can confisimply stated, non-technical dently work with his or her security teamto plan the necessary operations and camprogramme goal.
paigns and, if necessary, acquire new tools
and tactics to facilitate them. Together, they decide to implement a network security
monitoring (NSM) operation, defined as the collection and escalation of indications
and warnings to detect and respond to intruders.20 The security team begins thelong-term, strategic process of hunting for hostile cyber attack campaigns, encompassing both known and unknown intrusion patterns.
20

Richard Bejtlich. The Practice of Network Security Monitoring (San Francisco, CA: No Starch 2013).

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The CISO, board, and CEO all agree that a second programme goal is the rapid
detection, response, and containment of cyber threats. This goal helps to ensure thatwhen intruders breach the perimeter defences, the game is far from over. Defenders
can still win, so long as they contain the threat before the attacker can accomplish hisor her ultimate mission. Therefore, the security team will develop strategies to identify
compromises quickly, determine their nature, give them some level of attribution, andabove all develop a plan to stop the attacker from accomplishing his or her mission.
At the tactical level of individual engagements with the adversary – the equivalent of battles in war – the security team will have myriad decisions to make, including whether to dislodge the intruder immediately or whether to watch the intruder
for a time in order to collect valuable intelligence. Some tactics govern how specifictools or techniques can be used, such as when Star Trek personnel switch their handphasers between ‘stun’ and ‘kill’. As always, the adversary gets a say in what happens,but from the enterprise’s point of view, programme goals, policies, and guidelines
should be written to govern this entire process.

7

The Relevance of Campaigns

Central to the concept, and success, of a strategic security program is the campaign,
which functions at the operational level. In some sense, the maturity of a security
programme can be derived from the attention shown by the CISO and his or her
security team to campaign development, and the understanding of campaign progress and analysis by top management. Consider the following quote from a February 2015 Reuters report on defence contractor Lockheed Martin:‘[Chief Executive Officer Marillyn] Hewson told the company’s annual
media day that Lockheed had faced 50 ‘coordinated, sophisticated campaign’ attacks by hackers in 2014 alone, and she expected those threats tocontinue growing’.21
When Ms. Hewson spoke in terms of campaigns, she showed that her security teamthinks and works at an advanced level. It is likely that Lockheed also aligns campaigns
with specific threat actors and motives. Speaking about specific campaigns and ranking
them in terms of sophistication and impact permits a vastly more meaningful discussion with other executives, the board, and other stakeholders. The CEO should be able
to speak in detail about the threat actors behind the campaigns, including their means
and motives, as well as illustrative examples of each campaign and how the security teamdetected and responded to them. The term ‘campaign’ also matches well with non-technology business operations such as marketing campaigns and sales campaigns.
21

Andrea Shalal. ‘Lockheed sees double-digit growth in cyber business,’ Reuters, 18 February 2015, http://www.reuters.com/
article/2015/02/19/us-lockheed-cybersecurity-idUSKBN0LN03K20150219.

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Contrast this approach with a recent briefing by Japan’s National Institute ofInformation and Communications Technology, which appeared in the Japan Times:‘The number of computer attacks on government and other organisations
detected in Japan doubled in 2014 from the previous year to a record 25.66
billion, a government agency said Tuesday’.22
Discussing individual attacks has limited value, as discrete incidents include
everything from a suspicious TCP packet, to an odd computer port, dubious SQL
query, or ‘phishy’ email. On the other hand, how can anyone devise a credible programme goal to counter over 25 billion attacks? The sweet spot lies in the middle, ingrouping the primary threats and threat actors into coherent and logical campaigns.
This is the best way for the enterprise – or a nation state – to counter an interactive
and adaptive adversary.

8

Strategic Cyber Defence in Ukraine

The government of Ukraine, which has tense relations with Russia and is embroiled
in an ongoing war, is likely the target for many ongoing cyber attack campaigns.
This author advises that the only way tocounter an offensive campaign is with an
The only way to counterequally determined defensive campaign.
an offensive campaign is
In April 2015, the security comwith an equally determined pany Looking Glass exposed ‘Operation
defensive campaign.
Armageddon,’ which it described as acyber espionage campaign (active since2013) designed to provide a ‘military advantage’ to Russia by targeting Ukrainian
government, law enforcement, and military officials for information of intelligence value. The researchers found a ‘direct correlation’ between digital attacks
and the ongoing war, including an ‘alarming’ blend of cyber espionage, physical warfare, and geopolitics.23 Recent reports by security companies Trend Microand FireEye describe other Russian campaigns, assigned the monikers ‘Operation
Pawn Storm’ and ‘APT28’, respectively.24 According to FireEye, APT28 appeared
to target individuals affiliated with European security organisations, including
the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the Organisation for Secu22
23
24‘Cyberattacks detected in Japan doubled to 25.7 billion in 2014,’ Japan Times, 17 February 2015, http://www.japantimes.co.jp/
news/2015/02/17/national/crime-legal/cyberattacks-detected-in-japan-doubled-to-25-7-billion-in-2014/.
Looking Glass Security, Operation Armageddon: Cyber Espionage as a Strategic Component of Russian Modern Warfare (Bumpas, VA: Looking Glass Security Corporation 2015) https://lgscout.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Operation_Armageddon_FINAL.pdf.
Loucif Kharouni, et al, Operation Pawn Storm: Using Decoys to Evade Detection (Trend Micro Incorporated: Irving, TX 2015)
http://www.trendmicro.com/cloud-content/us/pdfs/security-intelligence/white-papers/wp-operation-pawn-storm.pdf and
APT28 https://www.fireeye.com/resources/pdfs/apt28.pdf.

168

rity and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) which the Russian Government has longcited as existential threats.25
Similarly, Russian non-government groups such as CyberBerkut have been active
against NATO and Ukrainian targets.26 In March 2014, the group directed Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks against NATO’s main website, the CCD COE
website, and NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly website.27 In October 2014, on theeve of parliamentary elections in Ukraine, the website of the country’s Central Election Commission suffered DDoS attacks.28 The group has apparently also targeted
US military contractors working in Ukraine, stealing and publishing documents
about the movement of Western military equipment to Ukraine.29
Nation state security requirements are strategic in nature, and they do not frequently change. For what is seen to be a valid national security concern, states will
devote enormous human and technological resources to achieve their objectives,and use a variety of methods and attack vectors. Neither does a state give up after
one or even a hundred unsuccessful tactical engagements. Rather, it will adapt, andusually overcome defences eventually. The key factor that sets nation states apartfrom individuals and even hacker groups like Anonymous is persistence, and theability to maintain persistence indefinitely.
Actors such as Russia also qualify as highly ‘advanced’. Here is the author’s working definition, published in 2009:‘Advanced means the adversary can operate in the full spectrum of computer
intrusion. They can use the most pedestrian publicly available exploit against
a well-known vulnerability, or they can elevate their game to research new vulnerabilities and develop custom exploits, depending on the target’s posture’.30
Recognising that any nation-state – in this case Russia – has the capability toadapt and overcome is one reason why threat attribution is so important, at all levelsof strategic thought.31 This means that any time the security team recognises a failed
intrusion attempt as coming from an advanced persistent threat actor, they can be
sure the foe will return with a new technique and perhaps even a new campaign.

25
26
27
28
29
30
31

Ibid.
‘Berkut’ is Ukrainian for ‘special police force,’ although CyberBerkut is a pro-Russian group.
‘Ukrainian CyberBerkut takes down NATO websites,’ RT, 16 March 2014, http://www.rt.com/news/nato-websites-ddosukraine-146/.
Vitaly Shevchenko. ‘Ukraine conflict: Hackers take sides in virtual war,’ BBC News, 20 December 2014, http://www.bbc.com/
news/world-europe-30453069.
Jack Smith IV, ‘Pro-Russian Hackers Expose U.S. Military Contractor Activity in Ukraine,’ Observer, 2 March 2015, http://
observer.com/2015/03/pro-russian-hackers-expose-u-s-military-contractor-activity-in-ukraine/.
Richard Bejtlich. ‘What APT Is’, Information Security Magazine, July 2010, http://www.academia.edu/6842130/What_APT_Is.
Richard Bejtlich. ‘Five Reasons Attribution Matters,’ TaoSecurity Blog, 30 December 2014, http://taosecurity.blogspot.
com/2014/12/five-reasons-attribution-matters.html.

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9

Conclusion

The Ukrainian Government currently finds itself at a tactical disadvantage vis-à-vis
Russia, both on the traditional field of battle and in cyberspace. However, cybersecurity, especially at the national level, is a strategic game, and Kyiv can make smart
investments that will pay off over the long run.
This chapter has argued for the need to
Cyber security, especiallyapply strategic thought to digital defence.
at the national level, is a It began by advocating the utility of a milistrategic game.
tary model in cyberspace, albeit without any
desire for the militarisation of cyberspace.
The author explained how the military mind set, based on conflict with dynamic,
adaptive adversaries, is a more reliable strategy than the popular ‘cyber hygiene’model. It then described the five levels of strategic thought, which link goals with
policy, strategy, campaigns and operations, tactics, and tools. The author appliedeach level of strategic thought to a hypothetical network defence scenario. By integrating strategic thought into digital defence, this chapter demonstrated an alternative to technology-centric approaches that are not sufficient to defeat the adversary.
In a time of war, Ukraine is a natural target for many cyber threat actors andcampaigns. The only way to counter them is to develop an equally determined
defensive posture in cyber space.

Authors
Richard Bejtlich is FireEye’s Chief Security Strategist; previously, he was Mandiant’s Chief Security Officer. Richard is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings
Institution, and an advisor to Threat Stack, Sqrrl, and Critical Stack. He is pursuing a Master/Doctor of Philosophy in War Studies at King’s College London. He
was Director of Incident Response for General Electric, where he built and led the
40-member GE Computer Incident Response Team (GE-CIRT). Richard served in
the Air Force Computer Emergency Response Team (AFCERT), Air Force Information Warfare Center (AFIWC), and Air Intelligence Agency (AIA). He is a graduate of Harvard University and the United States Air Force Academy. His widely
followed blog is at taosecurity.blogspot.com, and his fourth book is The Practice of
Network Security Monitoring.
Michelle Cantos is the Cybersecurity Program Coordinator for Columbia University’s Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies. Michelle is a graduate of Columbia’s
School of International and Public Affairs, where she studied international security
policy with a focus on cyber defense. In the spring of 2015, she participated in The
Atlantic Council’s Cyber 9/12 Student Challenge, where her team competed against
twenty teams and earned second place in the policy challenge. She has worked as acybersecurity intern for the American Foreign Policy Council, and was a research
assistant for Dr. Abraham Wagner.
Kenneth Geers (PhD, CISSP) is a NATO CCD COE Ambassador, a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, and a Visiting Professor at the Taras
Shevchenko National University of Kyiv in Ukraine. Dr. Geers spent twenty years
in the U.S. Government (U.S. Army, NSA, NCIS, NATO), and was a Senior Global
Threat Analyst at FireEye. He is the author of Strategic Cyber Security, Editor ofCyber War in Perspective: Russian Aggression against Ukraine, Editor of The Virtual
Battlefield: Perspectives on Cyber Warfare, Technical Expert for the Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare, and author of more thantwenty articles and chapters on international conflict in cyberspace.

171

Keir Giles is an Associate Fellow of Chatham House’s International Security Department and Russia and Eurasia Programme. He also works with the Conflict Studies
Research Centre (CSRC), a group of subject matter experts in Eurasian security. Afteracquiring a wide range of experience in other fields in Europe and the former Soviet
Union, Keir originally joined CSRC at the UK Defence Academy (UKDA) as a specialist in human factors influencing Russian military, defence and security issues. Keir now
oversees the research and publications programme of the new, independent CSRC,
while continuing to write and publish there and for Chatham House on his own specialist area of Russian approaches to conventional, cyber, and information warfare.
Jason Healey is a Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University’s School forInternational and Public Affairs, specializing in cyber conflict, competition, andcooperation. He was the founding director of the Cyber Statecraft Initiative at the
Atlantic Council, where he remains a Senior Fellow. Jason is the author of dozens of published articles and editor of the first history of conflict in cyberspace, A
Fierce Domain: Cyber Conflict, 1986 to 2012. During his time in the White House,he was a director for cyber policy and helped advise the President and coordinate
US efforts to secure US cyberspace and critical infrastructure. He has also been
an executive director at Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong and New York, vice chairman of the FS-ISAC, and a US Air Force intelligence officer at the Pentagon andNational Security Agency. Jason was a founding member (plankowner) of the firstcyber command in the world, the Joint Task Force for Computer Network Defense,
in 1998. He is president of the Cyber Conflict Studies Association.
Margarita Levin Jaitner researches Information Warfare in cyberspace within the
Russia Project at the Swedish Defence University. Currently, she focuses on the Russian concept of “information superiority”. Margarita holds an MA degree in Societal
Risk Management from Karlstad University and a BA in Political Science from theSwedish National Defence College.
Nadiya Kostyuk is a doctoral student in a joint program of Political Science andPublic Policy at the University of Michigan. Prior to her studies, Nadiya worked asa Program Coordinator for the EastWest Institute’s Global Cooperation in Cyberspace Initiative, where she now serves as a Fellow. Nadiya’s research interest is therelationship between cybercrime and international security, interdependence,cooperation, and state sovereignty. Currently, Nadiya is working on a project to map
the relationship between kinetic and cyber operations in Eastern Ukraine.
Nikolay Koval is CEO of CyS Centrum LLC, in Kyiv, Ukraine. A graduate of the
Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Nikolay served at the State Service of Special Communication and Information Protection of Ukraine. He was responsible for the organization and coordination of Ukraine’s computer emergency response team (CERT-UA)

172

activities, including incident handling, technical analysis, and international engagement. His new company specializes in cyber threat prevention.
Elina Lange-Ionatamishvili is a Senior Expert at the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence (NATO StratCom COE) in Riga, Latvia, where she has
analyzed Russia’s ongoing information campaign against Ukraine. Previously, Elina
was head of the Public Diplomacy Division at the Ministry of Defence of Latvia(2007-2009), worked on public diplomacy projects under the NATO Riga Summit
Task Force (2006), managed the NATO Professional Development Programme inGeorgia, and helped to found the international NGO Baltic to Black Sea Alliance,
which has addressed media freedom and professionalism in EU Eastern Partnership countries. Elina has been awarded by the Latvian Minister of Defence, andreceived the Order of Honour from the President of Georgia.
James Andrew Lewis is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, directs the CSIS Technology Program, and previously worked at the
Departments of State and Commerce as a Foreign Service Officer and member of
the Senior Executive Service. Lewis helped to develop the initial policies to secureand commercialize the Internet, led the U.S. delegation to the Wassenaar Arrangement Experts Group, and was Rapporteur for the UN Group of Government Experts
on Information Security during their successful 2010, 2013, and 2015 sessions. Jim
has authored numerous CSIS publications, and was Director for the Commission on
Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency, the best-selling report whose contributions
to U.S. policy have been publicly recognized by the President. His current research
examines sovereignty on the Internet, cybersecurity norms, warfare, and technological innovation. Lewis received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.
Martin Libicki (Ph.D., U.C. Berkeley 1978) has been a distinguished visiting professor
at the U.S. Naval Academy and a senior management scientist at RAND since 1998,
focusing on the impacts of information technology on domestic and national security. He wrote two commercially published books, Conquest in Cyberspace: National
Security and Information Warfare, and Information Technology Standards: Quest for the
Common Byte, as well as numerous RAND monographs, notably Brandishing Cyberattack Capabilities, Crisis and Escalation in Cyberspace, Global Demographic Change andits Implications for Military Power, and Cyber-Deterrence and Cyber-War. He co-authored How Insurgencies End and How Terrorist Groups End. Martin is currently writing a textbook (due out in Spring 2016) from which a Cyberwar class can be taught.
Jarno Limnéll is a Professor of Cybersecurity at Aalto University in Finland, andthe Vice President of Cybersecurity at Insta Group plc. Professor Limnéll has beenworking with security issues for over 20 years. He holds a Doctor of Military Science degree in Strategy from the National Defense University in Finland; a Master173

of Social Science degree from Helsinki University; and an Officer’s degree from the
National Defense University. Limnéll served many years as an officer in the Finnish
Defense Forces, and has worked as a Director of Cybersecurity at McAfee. His mostrecent book is Cybersecurity for Decision Makers.
Tim Maurer is the Director of the Global Cybersecurity Norms and Resilience Project, and Head of Research at New America’s Cybersecurity Initiative. He is partof New America’s Future of War project and serves as a member of the Research
Advisory Network of the Global Commission on Internet Governance, the Freedom
Online Coalition’s cybersecurity working group “An Internet Free and Secure”, andwas co-chair of the Advisory Board for the Global Conference on Cyberspace. He
holds a Master in Public Policy concentrating on international and global affairs
from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Glib Pakharenko (CISA, CISSP) is an IT security specialist, board member for the
OWASP and ISACA Kyiv chapters, forum moderator, and the conference organizer
for the largest information security community of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Information Security Group. Glib has over 10 years of IT security experience in financial,telecom, media, and other industries. He actively supports the reform and modernization of Ukrainian national cyber security policies, and reviews technical and IT
security translations into the Ukrainian language.
Liisa Past is a NATO CCD COE adviser and spokesperson, with academic interests in political communication, argumentation, and discourse analysis. Educated atColumbia University, the University of Oslo, and Tartu University, Liisa has taught
at numerous institutions of higher education, and worked with companies, organizations, and a political party on strategic communication and public relations. As an
activist, she has contributed to human rights causes and has worked with the International Debate Education Association, Estonian Debating Society, and Baltimore
Urban Debate League.
Henry Rõigas is a researcher in the Law and Policy Branch at NATO CCD COE,
studying policy matters such as state interest in global cyber diplomacy, international norm development, the role of international organisations, and the cybersecurity posture of small states. He is the Project Manager of the Ukraine case study
book and the Centre’s INCYDER (International Cyber Developments Review) database. Henry holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from the Universityof Tartu.
Jan Stinissen is a military lawyer in the Netherlands Army with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He served as a military lawyer for more than 20 years in different
positions in The Netherlands and in Germany. He was deployed as a Legal Advisor

174

with NATO missions abroad. Most recently, Lt Col Stinissen worked as a Researcher
with the Law and Policy Branch at the NATO CCD COE in Tallinn, Estonia. He
holds a Master in Law degree from the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Sanda Svetoka is a Senior Expert at the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of
Excellence (NATO StratCom COE) in Riga, Latvia, where she is the project leader
for StratCom’s study on how social media are used as a weapon in hybrid warfare.
From 2004-2005, she worked as a news reporter at the Latvian information agency
LETA. In 2005, she joined the Latvian Ministry of Defence, where she coordinatedLatvian cooperation with NATO partner countries. In 2010-2011, Ms Svetoka was
Public Relations Advisor to the NATO Advisory Team in Kosovo. From 2011-2014,
she served as a Press Officer at the Military Public Relations Department of theLatvian Ministry of Defence. Ms Svetoka holds an MA in Political Science from the
University of Latvia.
Jen Weedon is a strategic threat intelligence analyst and cyber risk management
consultant at FireEye. Jen played a key role in building out Mandiant’s intelligenceteam and contributed to Mandiant’s landmark APT1 report, linking a long-runningcyber espionage effort to a Chinese military unit. She worked on the cyber espionage and hacktivist portfolios at iSIGHT Partners. Prior to that, Jen analyzed andbriefed policymakers on Russia’s intents and motivations in cyberspace for the U.S.
defense community. She is a graduate of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy(2008) and Smith College (2002), was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship in Ukraine(2002-2003), and is an inaugural fellow for Foreign Policy Interrupted (2015).
Professor James J. Wirtz is Dean, School of International Graduate Studies at the
U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He is editor of the Palgrave
Macmillan series, Initiatives in Strategic Studies: Issues and Policies, and a past president of the International Security and Arms Control Section of the American Political Science Association. In 2005, he was a Visiting Professor at the Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University. Between 2009 and 2014
he served as the Director of the Global Center for Security Cooperation, Defense
Security Cooperation Agency. His work on intelligence, deterrence, the Vietnam
War, and military innovation and strategy has been widely published in academic
journals. Professor Wirtz is a graduate of Columbia University (MPhil 1987, PhD
1989), the University of Delaware (MA 1983, BA 1980), and was a John M. Olin
Pre-Doctoral Fellow at the Center for International Affairs, Harvard University.