All the theories of the international relations that were founded after the end of the cold war have started depleting in the wake of the Russian-Ukraine conflict.
Back then, most theorists maintained that the era of hard war was diminishing and that the emergence of hybrid warfare was increasing.
The World Prepared for Cyber Attack, Russia Relied on Traditional War
The United States tried to divert its resources for the more sophisticated cyber warfare that could bring every part of the civil society to the brink of seizure.
However, as Russia opted for more traditional warfare, the importance of the conservative approach toward security has increased manifold.
It was also believed that nation-states would move toward attacking other countries’ airlines using sophisticated technologies instead of bombing their civilians directly. Likewise, the threat of major power outages in the industrial hubs of the world was also pervasive.
When Russia started amassing a massive number of troops along the Ukrainian border, it was thought that Russia might try to experiment with its new waring techniques on Ukraine to get itself prepared for a battle with bigger nations of the world.
Many believed that the Ukrainian government infrastructure would be the biggest receiver of Russian aggression as the country had the capability to launch an all-out cyberattack on the Ukrainian government.
Russia is Still Perpetuating Cyberwarfare but in Shadows
Although the threat of a hard war was never absent, the possibility was still less than that of traditional warfare.
It was due to the very fact that Russia was the front line advocate of destroying other nations’ cyberinfrastructure.
The country remained the launchpad of some of the most dangerous cyberattacks against many countries of the world.
Some of them were so severe that they wanted to intermix poisonous pipelines with the drinking water facilities of the United States using technology.
Although Russia did try to penetrate Ukrainian cyberinfrastructure in 2021, however, the intensity of these attacks was not so dangerous.
In fact, some cyber warfare is still happening, but it is unable to get media attention due to the onslaught of a rather bigger military conflict.
Thus cyberwarfare is happening in the shadows. But this is the very purpose of cyberwarfare as not many people end up believing in these types of war.
If cyber warfare is happening in parallel with a military confrontation, the latter is likely to get more attention and thus more hype.
So, the reaction of the world regarding both of these war tactics can easily be justified.
Just a week before the physical invasion of Ukraine, some major banks of the country faced denial of service attacks.
Google is assisting Ukraine in strengthening its 150 websites that could be the receiver of Russia’s cyber attack.
But Russia has successfully managed to eyewash the world regarding its cyber activities in Ukraine.
Final Thoughts
And at a time when it is invading the country physically, it is hard for the world to keep track of the cyber attacks in Ukraine. So most of those attacks go unnoticed.
But this would be the testing time for Russia to keep its invasion intact, especially at a time when more countries are now hesitant from supporting it.
For instance, the Russian foreign minister was on his way to China when his flight was diverted back to Moscow from midair.
It is now being considered that China has denied giving support to Russia, for which Russia is now recalibrating its foreign policy.
So, Russia has the world closing on it, for which it is being pressured. But the world has to start taking traditional security seriously so that any further attack can be averted.
Eli is a Political Data Scientist with over thirty years of experience in Data Engineering, Analytics, and Digital Marketing. Eli uses his expertise to give the latest information and distinctive analysis on US Political News, US Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, and Racial Justice equipping readers with the inequivalent knowledge.