Microsoft accuses Russian government hackers of carrying out a number of cyber attacks on countries that support Ukraine.
According to Microsoft, these cyber attacks have been carried out since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, and the cyber attacks themselves are mostly in the form of intelligence operations to spy on the targeted country.
"The cyber aspect of this war is spreading beyond Ukraine and represents a unique aspect of cyberspace," said Microsoft President Brad Smith, in the report.
Security researchers at Microsoft found a number of malicious cyberattacks against organizations in Ukraine since the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. And the cyber attack was carried out by a hacker syndicate backed by the Russian government.
Then Microsoft also found that there were 128 organizations spread across 42 countries outside of Ukraine that were the target of the hacker syndicate. The cyber attack focuses on espionage, aka spying on its victims.
Outside of Ukraine, the country most targeted by hackers is the United States. Likewise with the NATO member countries that provide assistance to Ukraine.
These countries include Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Poland. The same goes for Finland and Sweden, countries that have recently expressed their desire to join NATO.
"The targets are mostly governments, but include think tanks, humanitarian organizations, and critical infrastructure providers," Microsoft wrote in the report.
According to Microsoft, the success rate of these cyber attacks is 29%, and in some cases, hackers have succeeded in stealing data from their victims.
The Russian side, in this case its embassy in Washington, United States, did not comment on this allegation. However, previously, the Russian government has always denied allegations of cyber espionage directed at them, because it is against Russia's foreign policy.