The White House on Tuesday deployed Anne Neuberger, the country’s deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology, to NATO to help allies disrupt potential Russian cyberattacks on Ukraine and prepare for possible retaliatory attacks on the U.S. and Europe once the alliance invokes sanctions on Russia, The New York Times reported.
Neuberger’s visit highlighted intelligence assessments that cyberattacks on Ukraine’s government ministries, electric grid and communications systems would likely come before a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“We have been warning for weeks and months, both publicly and privately, that cyberattacks could be part of a broad-based Russian effort to destabilize and further invade Ukraine,” the White House said in a statement.
Nueberger, a two-time Wash100 Award winner, was scheduled to speak with the North Atlantic Council in Brussels to inform them of possible disruptive cyberactions during a conflict. She will then travel to Poland to meet with officials in charge of cyberdefense efforts.
Ukraine is set to perform experiments in the next few weeks that include connecting to other power grids in Europe and detaching from Russia’s electric supply network.
