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The war in Ukraine has caused the suffering of millions and the loss of tens of thousands of lives, and is undoubtedly one of the greatest human tragedies of the 21st century. In these times of peril, people reveal their true colours, and blue and yellow have shown to represent tremendous bravery and determination despite all the odds being stacked against them. Whilst many have been devastated by the conflict, the awe inspiring collective rise of Ukrainians everywhere has demonstrated what a truly special people they are.

This bravery has also led others to step up their support, whether it be other nations, billionaires such as Elon Musk, or simply ordinary people donating to initiatives such as President Zelenskys United 24 fund. As we have seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, great tragedies have the power to unite us and to inspire us to use our innovation and creativity to find solutions. Throughout history, war has been no different - whether it be the First World war leading to the development of novel plastic surgery techniques, or the Cold War resulting in the space race and putting the first man on the moon.

The Ukraine war is a modern-day war, and as a result we have seen modern-day technological innovation. I hope to unpack some of this and reveal how the lessons we have learned in wartime might be used by business es in peacetime, once the dust finally settles on this dreadful human tragedy.

Clear communication is vital during a war, and it has been a key factor in differentiating between Russia and Ukraine in this conflict. Effective military-grade encrypted communication is difficult to implement, and the technology that Ukraine has been using has allowed them to communicate essential information between their troops.

Perhaps as a side effect of not readying for a prolonged assault, some Russians were forced to communicate using regular mobile phones, allowing Ukraine to block their numbers. When they resorted to stealing Ukrainian phones, lists of stolen numbers were compiled, allowing calls to be intercepted. It is rumoured that due to the expectation of a swift victory, Russia didnt wish to sabotage Ukrainian communications and other infrastructure as they were planning on using it once they had seized the territory.

Communication, notably phishing and social engineering, is a hot topic in cyber security. Businesses should always ensure that sensitive communication, particularly when containing personally identifiable information (PII) and customer data, is kept encrypted. Internal communication should use tools such as Slack or Microsoft Teams as they offer a higher level of trust than email. This is largely due to their ability to segregate internal communications into their platform, which allows external email communications to be scrutinised more effectively.

One of the most notable things about the start of the invasion in Donbas is that satellite imagery showed the presence of Russian tanks on the border with Ukraine. There have been several subsequent news stories showing how pictures uploaded to public social media accounts by Russian soldiers have revealed key tactical insights such as their numbers and location.

Open source intelligence is becoming more common, with information becoming more freely accessible. Both the military and businesses alike should note that their presence on social media and elsewhere on the internet is key to their security. Monitoring what information about your organisation is available in the public domain is vital to understanding an attacker's mindset, and this is often a starting point from which penetration test audits will begin.

Drones are not a fresh concept in modern conflict, and in the past have been used as weapons that can launch strikes against remote targets without endangering allied soldiers. Facing limited supplies of armed military-grade drones, Ukraine has creatively used commercial drones, such as the DJI Mavic 3, for reconnaissance in order to locate targets for artillery units.

Somewhat contrary to traditional military strategy of involving a chain of command, they have empowered frontline soldiers to call in missile strikes in a just-in-time manner, which allows them to respond quickly to rapid change. Often these troops have a clearer picture of the present situation, and allowing them to make these calls has been a key strategic advantage.

Original post:
How cyber lessons learned in warfare can be applied to business ... - BCS