" It's like an explosion": Cyberwarfare harms for civilian population in Ukraine during the Russian invasion

Oksana  Kulyk; Jari Kickbusch; Peter  Mayer

" It's like an explosion": Cyberwarfare harms for civilian population in Ukraine during the Russian invasion

Oksana Kulyk
, Jari Kickbusch
, Peter Mayer

University of Southern Denmark
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Research output: Conference Article in Proceeding or Book/Report chapter › Article in proceedings › Research › peer-review

Abstract

Studies on civilian costs of cyberwarfare operations are crucial in understanding how to protect the population in large-scale cyberattacks conducted by state actors. In this preliminary study, we conduct interviews (N=5) focusing on the harms experienced by Ukrainian civilians due to Russian cyberwarfare operations since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022 as well as mitigation measures for protection of the civil society. The findings include harms such as lack of information, lack of access to essential services, physical harms, anxiety and lack of trust in the government. The study shows that cyberwarfare operations have the potential of causing severe harm to civilians and that there is a need for future studies to be conducted and adopted by institutions in order to develop measures to mitigate, not only in Ukraine but in any countries in risk of such attacks.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Number of pages	11
Place of Publication	New York, USA
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery
Publication date	2025
Pages	1-11
Publication status	Published - 2025
Event	CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - PACIFICO Yokohama, Yokohama, Japan Duration: 8 May 2021 → 13 May 2021 Conference number: 43 https://chi2025.acm.org/

Conference

Conference	CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Number	43
Location	PACIFICO Yokohama
Country/Territory	Japan
City	Yokohama
Period	08/05/2021 → 13/05/2021
Internet address	https://chi2025.acm.org/

Keywords

cyberwarfare
civilian harm
critical infrastructure
information access
trust in government

Access to Document

itslikeanexplosion_chi2025Submitted manuscript, 475 KB

ODC: Optimering af Danmarks Cybernødberedskab
Kulyk, O. (PI)
Nationalt Forsvarsteknologisk Center
01/11/2024 → 31/10/2026
Project: Research

Cite this

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title = "{"} It's like an explosion{"}: Cyberwarfare harms for civilian population in Ukraine during the Russian invasion",

abstract = "Studies on civilian costs of cyberwarfare operations are crucial in understanding how to protect the population in large-scale cyberattacks conducted by state actors. In this preliminary study, we conduct interviews (N=5) focusing on the harms experienced by Ukrainian civilians due to Russian cyberwarfare operations since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022 as well as mitigation measures for protection of the civil society. The findings include harms such as lack of information, lack of access to essential services, physical harms, anxiety and lack of trust in the government. The study shows that cyberwarfare operations have the potential of causing severe harm to civilians and that there is a need for future studies to be conducted and adopted by institutions in order to develop measures to mitigate, not only in Ukraine but in any countries in risk of such attacks.",

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booktitle = "Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems",

publisher = "Association for Computing Machinery",

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note = "CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI'21 ; Conference date: 08-05-2021 Through 13-05-2021",

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Kulyk, O, Kickbusch, J & Mayer, P 2025, " It's like an explosion": Cyberwarfare harms for civilian population in Ukraine during the Russian invasion. in Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Association for Computing Machinery, New York, USA , pp. 1-11, CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Yokohama, Japan, 08/05/2021.

" It's like an explosion": Cyberwarfare harms for civilian population in Ukraine during the Russian invasion. / Kulyk, Oksana ; Kickbusch, Jari; Mayer, Peter .
Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York, USA : Association for Computing Machinery, 2025. p. 1-11.

Research output: Conference Article in Proceeding or Book/Report chapter › Article in proceedings › Research › peer-review

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T1 - " It's like an explosion": Cyberwarfare harms for civilian population in Ukraine during the Russian invasion

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AU - Kickbusch, Jari

AU - Mayer, Peter

N1 - Conference code: 43

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - Studies on civilian costs of cyberwarfare operations are crucial in understanding how to protect the population in large-scale cyberattacks conducted by state actors. In this preliminary study, we conduct interviews (N=5) focusing on the harms experienced by Ukrainian civilians due to Russian cyberwarfare operations since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022 as well as mitigation measures for protection of the civil society. The findings include harms such as lack of information, lack of access to essential services, physical harms, anxiety and lack of trust in the government. The study shows that cyberwarfare operations have the potential of causing severe harm to civilians and that there is a need for future studies to be conducted and adopted by institutions in order to develop measures to mitigate, not only in Ukraine but in any countries in risk of such attacks.

AB - Studies on civilian costs of cyberwarfare operations are crucial in understanding how to protect the population in large-scale cyberattacks conducted by state actors. In this preliminary study, we conduct interviews (N=5) focusing on the harms experienced by Ukrainian civilians due to Russian cyberwarfare operations since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022 as well as mitigation measures for protection of the civil society. The findings include harms such as lack of information, lack of access to essential services, physical harms, anxiety and lack of trust in the government. The study shows that cyberwarfare operations have the potential of causing severe harm to civilians and that there is a need for future studies to be conducted and adopted by institutions in order to develop measures to mitigate, not only in Ukraine but in any countries in risk of such attacks.

KW - cyberwarfare

KW - civilian harm

KW - critical infrastructure

KW - information access

KW - trust in government

M3 - Article in proceedings

SP - 1

EP - 11

BT - Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

PB - Association for Computing Machinery

CY - New York, USA

T2 - CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Y2 - 8 May 2021 through 13 May 2021

ER -

" It's like an explosion": Cyberwarfare harms for civilian population in Ukraine during the Russian invasion

Abstract

Conference

Keywords

Access to Document

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Projects

ODC: Optimering af Danmarks Cybernødberedskab

Cite this