The recent invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces has brought to light a subject that’s been discussed ad nauseum over the years in the cybersecurity industry: what role would cyber have in a conventional ground war?
While the cybersecurity field initially witnessed the use of data wipers and ransomware targeting Ukrainian organizations during the initial days of the invasion, the feared worst-case scenarios have yet to materialize and the actual deployment of cyber as a “fifth domain” by the belligerents in this conflict has been minimal. In fact, General Paul Nakasone, Commander of U.S. Cyber Command recently said, “It has not been what we anticipate when we went into this several weeks ago,” regarding the muted use of cyberattacks during the invasion.