As the Russian crisis in Ukraine worsened, India’s information technology and business process management industries went on standby. Although IT companies in India do not have many operations in Ukraine, they have large centres in Eastern European countries, such as Hungary, Romania, Poland, and the Czech Republic, where business continuity plans are being prepared.
According to the research company ISG, about 50,000 technology workers and 200,000 independent technology workers in Ukraine could be affected by the crisis, which would affect the operation of technology companies around the world.
The Disruption Caused By Cyber-attacks
ISG also warned companies of disruption caused by cyber-attacks. “The cyber threat outside Ukraine has increased dramatically in the last 48 hours…All companies need to be prepared, whether they use Eastern Europe as a technology provider or not,” the statement said.
HCL Technologies has stated that it is closely monitoring the situation in the delivery centres in the region. “We are closely monitoring the situation and have already taken the necessary steps to keep the company running,” the spokesman said.
IT industry body Nasscom said that it is constantly working with its members to understand the impact of the crisis in Ukraine. Unfortunately, this means that the initial feedback had no immediate effect.
Internet Is Disrupted
Commenting on the crisis in Ukraine on Saturday, ISG said: “Based on discussions over the last 48 hours, we see that while some IT staff left the country, they mostly hid in the area. This is likely to be the case in the short term because the internet is disrupted, many roads are blocked, and broadcasts are closed to commercial air transport.”
Google has banned the RT application in Ukraine. It has also banned the download of Russian mobile media owned by Russian state media on Ukrainian territory at the request of the Kyiv government.
Ukraine Wins Crypto Millions
According to Elliptic, a blockchain analysis company, the Ukrainian government is gaining nearly $8 million in cryptocurrency after calling on social media to donate bitcoins and other digital tokens.
If you are a company that does business in Russia, you may also have little chance of becoming the target of a cyber attack. However, I think Russia will look at government, military, and economic infrastructure as if you were running pipelines or parts of an electricity grid. Large financial institutions are also likely to be a big target.
Companies Can Fall Into The Trap Of Cyber Warfare
Today, companies often encounter two types of cyberattacks. The most common is ransomware, where someone enters your system and locks it until you pay for access. Criminal groups often use this as a way to generate revenue.
The second most common threat involves someone entering your systems to steal intellectual property. However, the level of threat varies by industry. Nevertheless, this is an attractive goal from the point of view of intellectual property, whether you are in the field of high technology, energy, or defence.
All these threats now exist and will not disappear. But I think we can now see the groups doing so for various reasons. For example, instead of being a car that brings in money from companies, they can now focus on causing net damage before it does damage.
They can log in, manipulate your data and try to change it. Or they lock your networks and monitor your infrastructure as your control technology so you can work remotely on your industrial control systems. The government has already put some guidelines on how companies can strengthen their network’s defences and warn them of growing cyber activity in Russia that could target them.
The part I haven’t seen before – but perhaps on the horizon – is when the government starts working more closely with real-time companies, especially those involved in critical infrastructures, such as energy or finance. I think that if some of these types of companies lose their functionality, you may notice considerable government interest and action in this matter.
Cryptocurrencies are the preferred method of money laundering by some international criminals. Other governments targeted such sanctions, including Iran and North Korea, have relied on high-end digital currencies to mitigate these adverse financial effects.
Sanctions are said to be one of the most potent tools the United States and European countries need to influence the behaviour of countries they do not consider allies or those that have become as famous as Russia. The US primarily uses sanctions as a diplomatic tool because the dollar is the world’s reserve currency and is used to pay worldwide.
Many cryptanalysts hope that the crypto-industry can grow after using what most media houses suspect is World War III. However, the administration also urges the cryptocurrency industry to put internal controls to prevent abusers from interfering in critical situations.