Hello everyone and welcome to ZD Tech, ZDNet’s daily editorial podcast. My name is Guillaume Serriesand today I explain to you why US tech companies are helping Ukraine against Russia, without saying so.
“We have a war in Europe and for the very first time, American companies are coming to the aid of a state: Microsoft and Alphabet are taking a stand,” says Mikko Hyppönen, head of research at cybersecurity firm F-Secure. .
And drive the point home. “At the beginning of the month, I met with the director of cybersecurity in Europe,” he adds. “He told me he was just helping Microsoft customers in Ukraine. But I don’t believe it. »
fight in cyberspace
And if this is a first, it may be because US companies are comforted by the fact that it is now common knowledge that US military hackers are carrying out offensive operations in support of Ukraine. .
It is even the head of the American Cyber Command who says it from Tallin, the Estonian capital, a few kilometers from the Russian border.
General Paul Nakasone, who is also the director of the NSA, has indeed confirmed for the first time that the United States is proactively fighting Russian forces in cyberspace.
Manhunt
But with what objectives? Well, the American general also explained that it was partly a question of looking for the hackers who work for the Russian forces and to identify their tools. In short, we are talking about a manhunt here.
This is why American military cyber specialists were present in Ukraine at a date very close to that of the invasion, indicates the general.
“We went in December 2021 at the invitation of the kyiv government to hunt down the Russian hacker. We stayed there for a period of almost 90 days,” says the general.
A vital support
And the precision of the information from the American intelligence agencies, which had planned and announced the invasion, would certainly have something to do with it.
“Our ability to share this information, to ensure that it is accurate, timely and actionable on a larger scale, has been very, very powerful in this crisis,” admits the four-star general.
There is no doubt that in this struggle, the support of private American organizations, which continue to operate in Russia, is essential.