Decode the cyber with ACIG. Read interview with Kristan Stoddart!

Marek Górka: Which countries and why might be targets of Russian cyber campaigns?
Kristan Stoddart: Russia targets many nations through cyber (and other means). Its primary target since at least 2014 has been Ukraine. Beginning in at least the mid-1990s, it has also attacked economic and political targets in the United States, former Soviet republics from the Baltic states to Central Asia, companies from Ireland to Turkey, human rights NGOs, and IGOs including the OPCW.

Marek Górka: Which socio-political situations in Europe might contribute to cyber threats from Russia?
Kristan Stoddart: Any that are deemed a threat or challenge to Russia. By Russia, I refer to the Kremlin/Security Council, and Siloviki. Russia seeks to divide NATO and the EU. It would also welcome a decline in support for both by a future U.S. administration. Democracy, elections, and truth are among the targets.

Marek Górka: Do the experiences from Ukraine indicate that we are dealing with cyber warfare, or rather conventional warfare with the addition of cyber technology?
Kristan Stoddart: It depends on how cyberwarfare is seen. My 2022 book, Cyberwarfare: Threats to Critical Infrastructure (https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-97299-8) paints a detailed picture of why it needs to be kinetic and destructive to qualify (under the UN Charter) as war. Many other activities fall under the umbrella of cyberespionage. Some under cybercrime. They are intimately interrelated. However, Russia’s state intelligence agencies (the GRU and SVR in particular) use and utilize proxies to create a form of plausible deniability. Their two main APT groups (APT28 and 29) are both Advanced Persistent Threats and Advanced Persistent Manipulators (APMs). My two companion books on Russia and Chinese cyberespionage go into more detail. Increasingly, Russian activities can be seen as part of hybrid warfare. This is beyond traditional Active Measures. This is the subject of a co-edited book due out later in 2024.