by: XHABIR DERALLA
On July 13, the servers of the Russian “cyber evil” crashed. What is this about? Let’s start by going back a bit, but not too much…
The Russian “diplomatic” position that everything that is bad for the European Union and the US are good for Russia is well-known. From natural disasters to polarization, political and economic instability, radicalization, unrests and violence – all these are situations and events that for the Russian authoritarian clique are “good news”. After a long time, this year marks the first successes against authoritarian regimes and international criminal underground who lead a hybrid war against democracy.
Anti-Western machinery and international criminal networks (not only Russian) are working hard on undermining the Western democracies in different ways, among which most visible and most intense are the disinformation campaigns and cyber-attacks.
The world public was divided on the day when during the G7 Summit on June 16 the two Presidents met, the US and Russian President. Some considered that it was a very significant meeting, while others that it was just another summit of world leaders from which not much could be expected, and there were others that thought it was significant, but premature, especially since Biden had been President of the United States merely half a year.
But from the very beginning of that meeting that lasted four hours, the world could notice that something, nevertheless, had changed. The Russian autocrat (or: dictator, as the opposition calls him at home) arrived a bit before Biden, who, on the other hand, arrived exactly on time. The Russian statesman is known for being late, from a few minutes to several hours, which is part of his power game. At a press conference following the meeting with the US leader, the usually cold Putin showed clear signs of exhaustion and distress.
On the US biggest national holiday, Independence Day, July 4, the Russian dark web called REvil carried out one of the fiercest attacks in the history of cyber attacks (Ransomware Evil: ransomware – software that is used for blackmail and extortion, evil. Between 800 and 1.500 companies in the United States and around the world were attacked that day.
Five days later on July 9, Biden in a telephone conversation warned Putin that they would retaliate. And that this is the last chance for Putin to take steps to stop the cyber-attacks from the Russian side. Asked by a journalist whether he would order a counter attack if Putin did not take action in regards to the cyber-attacks from the Russian servers, Biden with a smile briefly replied: “Yes! “
Whether upon Putin’s order or due to a counterattack upon Biden’s order, it is unknown for now, but the Russian “cyber evil” disappeared on the morning of July 13. It is also uncertain whether the Russian “cyber evil” can be expected to appear under a new name with even greater capacities and fiercer attacks. It is also unknown (for the wider public) whether the Russian “cyber evil” is under Putin’s direct control or is just an internet raid gang that enjoys the impunity of the Russian state apparatus.
One thing is certain. The hybrid war has entered a new phase. The results of the “Western counter offensive” are yet to be felt in the rest of the world as well. For now, the first victim of the political-security response to the Russian “cyber evil” is REvil. And this is just the beginning.
Signs that the hybrid war has entered a new phase are felt in our country too. The response comes at the right moment – as in Fall we have a census of the population and local elections.
Translation: N. Cvetkovska
