The war in Ukraine is the focus of much of the news these days, but what many don’t realize is that much of the battle is happening digitally, as well as physically. Here’s a quick roundup of some of the top tech news stories concerning the war this week:
- Starlink helps Ukraine’s elite drone unit target and destroy Russian tanks [Ars Technica] “Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Starlink is working well in an interview on Friday with The Washington Post. “‘The quality of the link is excellent,’ Fedorov said through a translator, using a Starlink connection from an undisclosed location. ‘We are using thousands, in the area of thousands, of terminals with new shipments arriving every other day,'” The Post reported.”
- Deepfake presidents used in Russia-Ukraine war [BBC News] “A deepfake video shared on Twitter, appearing to show Russian President Vladimir Putin declaring peace, has resurfaced. Meanwhile, this week Meta and YouTube have taken down a deepfake video of Ukraine’s president talking of surrendering to Russia. As both sides use manipulated media, what do these videos reveal about the state of misinformation in the conflict?”
- Social media platforms tread carefully when it comes to the Russian government [CNN] “The issue marks yet another front in the sprawling information war over Ukraine. And it highlights the challenge for social media platforms posed by Russian government accounts that critics say are freely allowed to spew disinformation to millions of users, even as those same platforms have moved to restrict Russian state media content over similar concerns.”
- Ukraine: How crowdsourcing is rescuing people from the war zone [BBC News] “One challenge facing those looking to escape is to find one that is not under heavy bombardment from Russian forces. The UN says more than three million people have have now fled Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion just over three weeks ago. So how do people actually find safe passage out of the country? One way is via transport arranged by dozens of volunteers based thousands of miles away, who liaise with fellow volunteers in Ukraine. They, in turn, send information in real-time about safe roads to drivers who can rescue busloads of people.”
From the Ohio Web Library:
- West’s technology helps Ukraine stall the advance of Putin’s armed forces (Dominic Nicholls. (2022). West’s technology helps Ukraine stall the advance of Putin’s armed forces. Daily Telegraph (London), 7.)
- Chinese Hackers Launch Attacks On European Officials In Russia-Ukraine War. (Brewster, T. (2022). Chinese Hackers Launch Attacks On European Officials In Russia-Ukraine War. Forbes.Com, N.PAG.)
- India to consider alternative payment mechanism because of Ukraine war (India to consider alternative payment mechanism because of Ukraine war. (2022). Global Banking News (GBN).)
