Suspected of having specifically targeted the Ukrainian army, a cyberattack against the satellite network provider ViaSat also affected Internet users in France and wind turbines in Germany.
On February 24, 2022, the first day of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, a cyber event went somewhat unnoticed, but deprived thousands of Europeans of the Internet. ViaSat, a North American company specializing in satellite Internet, has faced major service disruptions since then. And according to information from the German newspaper Der Spiegelbased on an internal document from the German cybersecurity agency, this hack is linked to the war in Ukraine.
According to the authorities across the Rhine, on February 24 at 5 a.m., attackers activated a faulty update via the KA-SAT satellite (of which ViaSat is a customer) on the terminals of the access provider and damaged them. , the satellite itself not being compromised. This attack is not unlike that of the NotPetya malware, which initially spread via updates to the Ukrainian accounting application MeDoc.
The German media is not the only one to have established a link between this hack and the ongoing conflict. In France, General Michel Friedling, head of the Space Command since 2019, also mentioned the case during a press conference on Thursday March 3. “The information in our possession indicates that about ten thousand terminals were rendered inoperative immediately after this attack”he said, adding that some could be irreparable.
On March 3, 2022, during the @Armees_Gouv press conference, ?? French Space Commander General Michel Friedling confirmed there has been a #cyberattack against the @Via_Satellite satellite network.@Air Force@CEM_AAE
Extracts of his speech, with English subtitles ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/mlu6AuNlGo
— Laetitia (@LaeCesari) March 4, 2022
A hack that would have targeted the Ukrainian army
But why attack a US satellite service provider, and more specifically its European modems? Still according to the authorities, the KA-SAT satellite attacked in Central and Eastern Europe is used intensively by the Ukrainian army. The timing therefore particularly supports this thesis.
However, the cyber offensive has caused collateral damage in other parts of Europe. In France, many subscribers of NordNet and Bigblu, two companies also operating KA-SAT, have been affected by loss of connectivity since the start of the conflict in Ukraine. In Germany, at least 3,000 wind turbines have been inaccessible since February 24. If they can continue to produce electricity, remote maintenance operations are currently impossible.
Across Europe, authorities linked to cybersecurity have increased their defense measures, fearing that offensive actions targeting Ukraine will spread. Going back to NotPetya, it is estimated that the damage caused by this software has caused nearly 10 billion euros in financial losses.