Thousands of Internet users were left without internet in Europe on Friday, probably due to a cyberattack against a satellite network that occurred at the start of the Russian offensive against Ukraine, according to concurring sources.
According to the French operator Orange, “nearly 9,000 subscribers” to a satellite internet service of its subsidiary Nordnet in France were left without connection after a “cyber event” at Viasat, a US satellite operator.
Eutelsat, which has 50,000 clients in Europe, gave the same information to AFP on Friday.
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Viasat had already indicated on Wednesday that a “cyber event” caused “a breakdown in a partial network” for customers “in Ukraine and other European countries” that depend on its KA-SAT satellite.
Despite the use of the euphemistic term “cyber event”, General Michel Friedling, who heads the French Space Command, confirmed on Thursday that this failure was due to a cyber attack.
“For a few days, shortly after the start of (Russian military) operations, there was a network of satellites covering Europe and, specifically, Ukraine, which was the victim of a cyber attack, with tens of thousands of terminals left inoperative. immediately,” he explained, specifying that he was referring “to a civilian network, Viasat.
Defense and cybersecurity specialists fear that the war between Russia and Ukraine will lead to a proliferation of cyberattacks, with significant consequences for the Ukrainians and the Russians, but also for the rest of the world.