{"id":49413,"date":"2022-11-17T21:00:40","date_gmt":"2022-11-17T21:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/11\/17\/data-centers-are-physical-and-digital-targets-says-pentagons-eoyang\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:37:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:37:54","slug":"data-centers-are-physical-and-digital-targets-says-pentagons-eoyang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2022\/11\/17\/data-centers-are-physical-and-digital-targets-says-pentagons-eoyang\/","title":{"rendered":"Data centers are physical and digital targets, says Pentagon\u2019s Eoyang"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The role cyber plays in military campaigns needs reexamination after Russia\u2019s failure to cripple computer networks during its invasion of Ukraine likely forced it to physically strike the country\u2019s infrastructure instead, according to a senior Pentagon official.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mieke Eoyang, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy, on Nov. 16 said the conflict in Eastern Europe is critically important for the U.S. Department of Defense<\/a> to understand, noting that day-to-day fighting and devastation are outstripping the consequences of cyberattacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you think about cybersecurity as a risk-managed exercise, and one of the risks you are trying to manage in the context of that is armed conflict, you have to think very differently about what you are dealing with,\u201d Eoyang said at the Aspen Cyber Summit in New York. \u201cWhen you think about the cybersecurity of data centers, for example, it is not just about patching and closing those things. It is about the physical security of those data centers. It is about whether or not those data centers are within the range of Russian missiles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number of assaults on Ukrainian networks and critical infrastructure has ballooned since Russia\u2019s invasion in late February. The finance and commercial sectors as well as national and public authorities were among \u201cthe major targets for hackers,\u201d<\/a> according to the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine. In recent months, electricity and energy resources have come under intense barrage by Russian missiles, leaving huge parts of Ukraine without power or heat as winter approaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Microsoft in April reported that cyberattacks were conducted in concert with real-world kinetic attacks, across land, sea and air. Together, the company said, the efforts sought to disrupt and degrade Ukrainian government and military functions and foment public distrust in the institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\t