Microsoft will ‘scale down’ its operations in Russia

Microsoft previously halted sales in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, and now it’s shrinking its presence in the country. The company told Bloomberg in a statement that it will “significantly scale down” its Russian operations in response to a bleaker economic forecast stemming from the war. Microsoft will still honor its contracts in the country, but the reduced footprint will affect over 400 employees.

The Windows creator said it was “working closely” with affected staff to provide support. There was no mention of which segments would be impacted. It was also unclear how many people the company employed in Russia before the announcement. We’ve asked Microsoft for comment.

This isn’t the first major tech company to withdraw at least some of its business in Russia in response to the war. IBM is now winding down its operations after suspending them in March, while software giant SAP said in April that it would exit the country entirely. Other firms, such as Amazon and Apple, have limited some or all of their sales.

This isn’t a huge sacrifice for Microsoft. The developer said in March that Russia accounted for less than one percent of its revenue, and its local business had been in a steady decline over the past few years. Even so, it wouldn’t be surprising if the cutback prompted similar moves from tech peers either showing support for Ukraine or concerned about their Russian sales prospects.

Russia’s war on Ukraine began with a satellite internet cyberattack

Russia’s alleged cyberattack campaign against Ukraine appears to have continued up to the very minutes before the invasion. Reutersreports the US, UK and European Union have formally blamed Russia for a large-scale cyberattack that disrupted Viasat’s satellite internet service an hour ahead of the February 24th assault. The hacking efforts permanently destroyed “tens of thousands” of satellite terminals, Viasat said, while the UK noted that the attack affected central European internet users and wind farms in addition to the Ukranian military and some civilian customers.

The accusations come in response to “new UK and US intelligence” linking Russia to the cyberattack, according to the UK’s Foreign Office. Russia hadn’t responded to the claims as of this writing, but has historically denied cyberattacks regardless of evidence.

The hack targeting Viasat likely had its intended effect. Ukraine cybersecurity official Victor Zhora disclosed in March that the anti-satellite effort led to a “huge loss” in communications at the very start of the war. With that said, Ukraine has been better-prepared in at least some instances. It claims to have fended off an attack against an energy provider in April, for example. While this latest attribution won’t dissuade Russia from conducting more attacks, it might signal that Ukraine and its allies are more aware of how to defend themselves online.

Hackers deface Russian platforms and smart TVs to display anti-war messages

On the same day Russia celebrated its role in defeating Nazi Germany, many of the country’s online platforms were defaced in protest of the war in Ukraine. The Washington Post reported on Monday that Russians with smart TVs saw channel listings replace…