WASHINGTON, D.C. — In Ukraine and Russia, the battlefield is expanding beyond soldiers and weapons.
Data centers powering the digital world are becoming targets in modern warfare. In the Russia-Ukraine war, targets have ranged from military and civilian to even energy infrastructure, and that includes infrastructure powering the digital world.
Russian attacks continue across Ukraine, despite a recent localized ceasefire. As Ukraine defends itself and retaliates, the country has been increasingly using drones to strike critical energy infrastructure in Russia, including data centers. We asked the experts why Ukraine is looking at Russian data centers as a target, and why now?
“A few reasons. The first is to remind Russia that two can play that game,” said Jessica McFate, vice president of intelligence operations at Babel Street, an AI-powered risk intelligence company. “And second is that it’s a very efficient way to have an outsized effect upon the state of Russia with very little expense.”
Basically, cheap drones that can produce massive — and expensive — consequences. As artificial intelligence becomes a strategic advantage, data centers are emerging as a new strategic front.
“It’s really, I think, a race for who can innovate and bring in outside technology faster for advantage. It’s a pace-setting war,” McFate said.
For businesses, governments and other entities leaning into AI integration, it could mean a new era of disruption. Cloud networks can spread data across borders, meaning one physical strike could disrupt businesses and users thousands of miles away.
“I think the narrative must change now that ‘I’m a hyperscale, I have to think about assuring people that their data is not stored in a place that has been struck before or is likely to get struck again,’” McFate said.
The threat may not be confined to war zones. America’s rapidly expanding AI infrastructure could also be vulnerable as drone technology becomes cheaper and easier to deploy.
“The premise that you don’t have to be part of an army to use these kinds of drone tactics is still a very clear point,” McFate said.
Experts emphasize as AI becomes more central to the global economy, protecting the data, infrastructure and technology behind it will become even more pivotal.
