Lessons from Russia’s cyber-war in Ukraine
It has been intense, but not always effective. Why?
![](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20221203_STD001.jpg)
Shaping the battlefield. Darius, king of Persia, did it in 331BC, with caltrops strewn where he thought his enemy Alexander the Great would advance. The Allies did it in 1944, with dummy aircraft and landing craft intended to fool Germany’s high command into thinking their invasion of France would be in the Pas de Calais, not Normandy. And Russia attempted it on February 24th, when, less than an hour before its tanks started rolling into Ukraine—on their way, they thought, to Kyiv—its computer hackers brought down the satellite communications system run by Viasat, an American firm, on which its opponents were relying.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “A nest of wipers”
More from Science & technology
![](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240914_STP501.jpg)
Particles that damage satellites can be flushed out of orbit
All it takes is very long radio waves
![](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240907_STP504.jpg)
A common food dye can make skin transparent
The discovery allows scientists to see inside live animals
![](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240907_STP503.jpg)
Fewer babies are born in the months following hot days
The effect is small but consistent
New tech can make air-conditioning less harmful to the planet
The key is energy efficiency
The noisome economics of dung beetles
They are worth millions a year to cattle ranchers
Digital twins are making companies more efficient
They will also help them reap the benefits of advances in AI