E.U. Blames Russia for Cyberattack on KA-SAT Satellite Network Operated by Viasat
May 11, 2022
The Five Eyes nations comprising Australia , Canada , New Zealand , the U.K. , and the U.S. , along with Ukraine and the European Union, formally pinned Russia for masterminding an attack on an international satellite communication ( SATCOM ) provider that had "spillover" effects across Europe. The cyber offensive , which took place one hour before the Kremlin's military invasion of Ukraine on February 24, targeted the KA-SAT satellite network operated by telecommunications company Viasat, crippling the operations of wind farms and internet users in central Europe. Viasat, in late March, disclosed that it had shipped nearly 30,000 modems to distributors to restore service to customers whose modems were rendered unusable. "This cyberattack had a significant impact causing indiscriminate communication outages and disruptions across several public authorities, businesses and users in Ukraine, as well as affecting several E.U. Member Stat...