Ukraine’s Digital Freedom

After months of military build-up on its borders, Russia’s invasion of the neighboring Ukraine sent shockwaves across the globe, the ripple effects of which are still being felt by millions. The attack began on 24th February 2022 and started with cyberattacks against the Ukrainian government with data-wiping malware and floods of internet traffic. The cyberattacks also caused reporting outages as claimed by news outlets, and the Ukrainian government has claimed that Russian hackers caused them.
The invasion was widely criticized by the NATO allies, the European Union, and the United States, with unprecedented and broad diplomatic and financial sanctions being implemented against Russia, which would impact finance, business, and trade in the region.

The impact of the invasion is being felt by the wider tech community in Ukraine, which includes hundreds of large tech firms and startups and development and research office for some of the biggest technology brands in the world today. As the situation on the ground continues to evolve and develop, these companies are in the process of safely evacuating their staff out of Ukraine.
The situation has reached a critical point because there is no public transportation on the roads, and the international airspace has been closed off. The plan is to evacuate staff to the neighboring borders of Poland or Hungary. Still, the situation has already spelled massive economic fallouts for some of the biggest startups in Ukraine.

Lack of Digital Freedom

The escalating conflict is taken up a notch, with reports coming out that there is a lack of digital freedom in Ukraine and Russia. The Digital Freedom Index report by ProtonVPN measures the internet and media access in countries worldwide. It uses data publicly available to rank digital freedom levels by comparing and scoring internet access and its seven aspects. These are as follows:
1. Social media legality
2. Virtual Private Network (VPN) legality
3. The legality of explicit content
4. Violation of user rights
5. Limits on content
6. Obstacles to access
7. Media freedom
Out of all the analyzed countries, Ukraine was on the 22nd placed with the worst level of digital freedom, with Russia ranking in 3rd spot.

Ukraine’s Pool of Tech Talent at Risk

Ukraine is already home to some of the finest tech professionals, engineers, and designers worldwide, and most tech CEOs have decided to remain in the country. Most of them are involved in donating and helping the people of Ukraine in the middle of this crisis. Many home-grown startups in Ukraine feel the effects of the war so far, including the home wireless security company Ajax and Grammarly, the AI-based grammar and writing engine.
These organizations have raised funds from the world’s biggest VCs, and the question arises of how their relationship will be affected by the continuation of the war. At this moment in time, the only thing that these companies can do is stay strong and try to outlast the battle. However, the long-term consequences of this conflict will be far-reaching and may spell the end of some corporations. Apart from the startups, some larger companies are feeling the pinch of the war.
For companies with consumer-facing platforms like ByteDance’s TikTok and Google’s YouTube, the biggest question is how they will be used or misused to spread information among the masses. The biggest threat to companies staying behind on the frontlines of the war is that they run the risk of being shut down due to international sanctions or due to interruption of internet services.
Google currently has over 200 people working in the country working on R&D for localized operations and global services. Meanwhile, Uber is advising people to stay at home and not use their services for public transportation as the situation on the ground remains tense and is not safe for travel. Their focus remains to protect the consumers and drivers of the app and ensure that their data isn’t hacked or compromised by cybercriminals.

Russian Service Firms Are Also Under Threat

Most global technology giants have used Russian developers in the software and tech industry because of their value-priced and high-quality work compared to their US and western European counterparts. Now they are facing the crunch because Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has placed them in a sensitive situation. They can’t be seen fraternizing with the enemy and will have to take a step back and cut their connections with their Russian counterparts.
Recent events have also seen major services disrupted worldwide because most tech giants have relied on the work of Russian software and R&D developers, who are now unavailable to them. The events have caused a conundrum of sorts for them because now they must use other resources that are not as good as the ones they were using before. However, it is a better alternative than running the risk of being sanctioned internationally.
It’s an expensive proposition because of the underlying threat of using other people for their resources, and therein lies the problem. Russian service firms are also under threat of going under because of their country’s actions. Many global tech giants have connections to Russian tech and service industry men. They can’t rely on their services due to the sanctions and must look elsewhere.
The impact of the war is still being felt by everyone remotely connected to the situation, and it remains to be seen how the global tech giants respond. Currently, everyone is taking things one day at a time, but the situation remains dire, and there seems to be no stepping back from Russia. That has clearly signaled to Russian fintech and more Ukrainian startups and major companies that the time has come to jump ship if they want to stabilize their data operations.

The Threat of Cyber Warfare Looms Large

The immense threat of cyber warfare looms large in the middle of the Ukraine/Russia conflict, and that is precisely to do with how the West perceives Russia’s attacks. Cybercriminals and hackers working with the Russian government are now planning large-scale attacks on the biggest global tech giants and plan to wipe out data plants. That is a bold undertaking, but Russia has been bold throughout its invasion of Ukraine, and it doesn’t seem to show any signs of stopping now.
The best the West can do is prepare for these attacks or launch a counter-offensive operation against the Russian government. They can’t be allowed to dictate terms, especially when it comes to data mobility worldwide, which has been thrown into flux by the Ukraine/Russia conflict. The situation may not be worse were it not for the lack of communication between the West, NATO, and Russia, but it seems like neither side wants to back down for fear of appearing weak.
The end result will be that the common consumer will most likely suffer because the cyber-attacks will be the beginning, and then there will be full-scale cyber warfare going on. The situation can be handled with diplomacy, but no one seems to be willing to sit down at a table and talk things through, which must change quickly.
Currently, data mobility is in danger of fizzling out or being lost in translation because some of the best R&D and tech minds are locked in Ukraine, and the rest are in Russia. That can have grave consequences for the future of some of the biggest tech companies in the world. For this reason, the time to act is right now, but someone must be willing to take the first step. The threat of cyber warfare looms large, and if something isn’t done soon, everyone will have reason to regret that decision.

Conclusion

The Russia/Ukraine conflict should never have happened, but now that things have escalated, it is time for people to sit down and think with calm minds. Data mobility worldwide is gravely affected, and it will worsen as time passes. That’s why the biggest minds in tech must develop a plan to ensure that the worst doesn’t come to pass and common sense prevails.
That remains a pipedream at this moment, but it is a step in the right direction. There may still be hope if things are handled with diplomacy and decency. Otherwise, the situation remains dire for some of the world’s biggest startups and tech brands. For the sake of data mobility, everyone must come together because we all stand to lose if all-out war breaks out.
The situation is tense right now but not beyond the realms of impossibility, but there can be no easy way out as things stand. It is time that everyone sits down and comes up with a plan; otherwise, the future doesn’t look very bright.