Ukraine Says It Thwarted a Sophisticated Russian Cyberattack on Its Power Grid

Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday that they had thwarted a Russian cyberattack on Ukraine’s power grid that could have knocked out power to two million people, raising fears that Moscow will increase its use of digital weapons in a country already pummeled by war.

Ukraine’s power grid has been knocked offline twice before, in 2015 and 2016, causing widespread blackouts. Russia has long used online attacks alongside traditional warfare; just days before the Russian invasion began on Feb. 24, Ukraine said a cyberattack hit its Defense Ministry, its army and two of its banks.

But experts said the latest hacking — while unsuccessful — was among the most sophisticated cyberattacks they have seen in the war so far.

The attack was scheduled to begin on the evening of April 8 as civilians returned home from work, Ukrainian officials said. Read more

@nytimes