Analysis: Russia views cyber dimension as an arena for modern conflict

Russia has a bifurcated attitude towards the cyber environment. On the one hand, it views cyber environment as an influencing platform that could endanger the internal stability, culture, values and national identity of the Russian state, and accordingly seeks to reduce its dependence on Western technology. Russia seeks not only to limit access by its citizens to the free Internet, but also to limit the ability of Western countries to spy on or influence Russian systems. On the other hand, Russia also uses the cyber environment actively as an instrument for achieving state interests and nurtures Russian cybercrime directed at foreign targets.

Russia views the information environment as an arena for conflict. This notion has guided Russia in systematically arranging its own cyber ecosystem, so that the surrounding society supports state cyber activities. At the core of the Russian cyber ecosystem are the supreme state leadership and the security and intelligence services, which are responsible for strategic planning, prioritising, and deployment of national cyber resources. Russia has managed to build a system which combines traditional propaganda and modern technology.

A flexible cyber ecosystem has been tested in practice

Russia has developed its cyber ecosystem in multiple fields. It has made an effort to train cybersecurity specialists, both at universities and in the in-house training programmes of its security authorities. Academic institutions have also supported Russia’s cyber activities through expertise and development efforts.

Russia has also invested in its national cybersecurity, information, communications and technology sectors, and enacted legislation to reinforce its ability to exploit information held by private sector entities in intelligence and influencing activities. The national and state-sponsored media organisations disseminate narratives that align with Russian interests. Strictly regulated national technology and communication platforms also provide opportunities for monitoring and controlling information flows.

The combination of these varying capabilities has made the Russian cyber ecosystem a versatile entity for national security authorities to use, both in military operations against Ukraine and in cyber influencing and espionage against Western countries. Besides intelligence on foreign and security policy, Russia has used cyber operations to secure intelligence that has subsequently been used as a resource for influencing.

The Russian intelligence authorities have also conducted numerous cyber sabotage operations, seeking to disrupt the functioning of Ukrainian society. Common to these operations has been the incitement of fear, uncertainty, and mistrust, thus compromising national and international unity in countries and various alliances that are classified as "unfriendly" from the perspective of Russia.

Russia seeks to disengage from the Western Internet

Russia views continued control of information as an crucial element in maintaining its digital sovereignty. The administration feels that the national information space should be protected from external influencing. While Russia has officially embraced the goal of combating hostile foreign activity and promoting Russian culture and values, free access to information is also considered as a significant threat to the current regime.

Russia has made efforts to prevent ordinary citizens from accessing Western news websites, while also blocking Western users from accessing the websites of several Russian public authorities. Russia has also made a determined effort to disengage from the design principles of Western information networks, such as securely implemented encryption systems.

As part of its goal to bring the Internet under broader state control, Russia has also been engaged in long-term development of national alternatives for telecommunication networks, data storage and communication systems. By replacing foreign services, applications and technology with domestic solutions, Russia seeks to control the part of the Internet that is physically located within its borders or otherwise under Russian jurisdiction.

Russia intentionally enables cybercrime

Russia has for years also provided favourable conditions for criminal cyber activity on the condition that such operations are targeted outside of Russia and do not conflict with Russian national or foreign policy interests. Cybercriminals’ operating methods have included ransomware attacks, with Finland also chosen as a target.

With rising geopolitical tensions, this symbiotic relationship between the regime and cybercriminal or hacktivist groups has assumed new forms, particularly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Denial-of-service attacks conducted by pro-Russian hacktivists have regularly targeted Western countries – including Finland. Growing hacktivism and cybercrime align with Russia’s interests to undermine the trust of Western citizens in societal functions, even when such operations are not directed by state operators. Influencing through proxies allows Russia to deny its own involvement.