Russians changing focus from cyberattacks to espionage against Ukraine, says NSA cyber leader

The National Security Agency said Wednesday it has detected a shift in Russian cyber operations against Ukraine, from destructive digital attacks to espionage.

NSA Cybersecurity Director Dave Luber shared the codebreaking and codemaking spy agency’s observations at a threat intelligence conference in Washington hosted by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.

“Now the Russians [are] shifting back to more espionage: ‘How can I conduct espionage against Ukrainian systems so that [I] can have an advantage on the battlefield?’” Mr. Luber said at the conference. “A shift from a potential, with a potential objective to do attack operations to what we see more of today is the opportunity for gleaning intelligence that can give the Russians advantage on the battlefield.”

Mr. Luber said one of the most important lessons his agency has learned from Russia’s war in Ukraine is the importance of sharing its insights with partners to better thwart Russia and other foreign adversaries around the world.

The NSA previously collaborated with Microsoft, for example, to stop Russian cyberattackers from devastating Ukrainian networks with a digital onslaught that could spread to the U.S. The agency told The Washington Times last year that the partnership represented a “power collaboration” that made a big impact and halted capabilities that could have been used against the U.S. government and infrastructure.

Mr. Luber said Wednesday that his agency knows no individual agency or company can fix the problems the U.S. government sees in cyberspace.

“There’s no one single entity that has the silver bullet that can solve all cybersecurity issues,” Mr. Luber said. “But when working together through partnerships, whether it’s partnerships with industry, whether it’s partnerships with our Five Eyes partners, whether it’s partnerships with our U.S. government partners or even other select foreign partners, that’s where the real power of cybersecurity comes into play.”

The NSA uses its Cybersecurity Collaboration Center to share information with private companies, having added more than 1,000 cybersecurity partners to the centers’ ranks since its launch approximately four years ago.

Kristina Walter, the center’s leader, told The Times last month that the NSA has started teaming up with artificial intelligence companies as well. She also said her agency uses the center to share information about foreign threats directed at U.S. elections.

Other corners of the intelligence community have adopted an approach favoring partnerships with the private sector and sharing information with American taxpayers. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, for example, is reportedly building a new unit for private sector engagement and is training people on desclassifying info to share with companies.