European Union countries have reportedly agreed to assist Ukraine in combating possible Russian cyber-attacks.
The assistance appears to be coming from the EU's Cyber Rapid Response Teams (CRRTs), a recently announced project backed by Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, and Romania.
CRRTs were formed to gather information on the experience and best practices in the areas of cyber resilience and incident response. They're also responsible for assisting partners with "training, vulnerability assessments, and other needed support."
According to Lithuanian defence minister Margiris Abukeviius, Politico reports, the six participating member states "made a decision to activate the team" in support of Ukraine.
Tensions are rising.
Amid rising tensions with Russia, Ukraine has approached Western nations for assistance in strengthening its cybersecurity, and Australia and other EU countries have responded.
Ukraine's military ministry and two banks were targeted by denial-of-service attacks earlier this month.
Russia recognised the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk republics in eastern Ukraine this week, declaring that it will send "peacekeeping troops" to the region.
Many believe that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which began with Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2008, is about to explode.
Allegations of election meddling in 2014, as well as attacks on Ukraine's power grid in 2015 and 2016, have characterised the long-running conflict.
In 2017, a malware attack aimed at Ukraine spilled over the country's border, affecting several global corporations, notably shipping giant Maersk. The source of the so-called NotPetya malware was later attributed to M.E. Docs, a tax preparation tool extensively used by companies conducting business in Ukraine, which had its software upgrades hacked.
Experts believe that any moves by Russian tanks into Ukrainian territory will probably be accompanied by cyber-attacks on telecommunications and other infrastructure, as well as disinformation campaigns, according to cyber conflict experts.
These attacks have the ability to cripple not only Ukraine but also Western countries, as former UK National Cyber Security Centre chief executive Ciaran Martin explained in a Twitter thread.
