On Friday, Apr. 8, Finland was hit with cyberattacks and an airspace breach while Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky was talking to the country's parliament.
Finland Hit with Cyberattack
Finland's Ministry of Defense confirmed on Apr. 8 that its website was under attack and it would shutter until further notice.
A couple of hours later, right after resolving the issue, the department clarified that the cyberattack they experienced was a denial-of-service attack, which aims to shut down a website so that users can't access its information.
The cyberattack also affected Finland's foreign ministry and its websites. The ministry said it was investigating the problem and got its sites working a couple of hours later.
Before the cyberattacks, Finland announced a Russian aircraft had violated the country's airspace, according to Bloomberg.
Amid the violation of Finnish airspace and the cyberattacks, President Zelensky spoke to Finland about Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The foreign ministry stated that Finland supports Ukraine in its efforts to defend freedom and democracy.
Finland has been reconsidering its stance on NATO membership since Russia's war on Ukraine, and this angered Moscow.
Russia previously threatened both Finland and Sweden if they attempted to join the NATO alliance, according to Reuters.
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Finland and Sweden should not base their security on damaging the security of other countries, and their accession to NATO can have military and political consequences.
Finland's NATO Membership
According to CNBC, Finland's Foreign Ministry Pekka Haavisto said that the country, which shares a 1,300-kilometer border with Russia, would clarify the following steps on its application for NATO membership.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Apr. 8 that the 30-member US-led alliance would welcome Finland should the country push through with its application amid Russia's war in Ukraine.
The local media outlets have shown Finnish support for NATO membership, hitting a record high after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking to CNBC' Hadley Gamble on Apr. 8, NATO's Stoltenberg said that Finland's decision to join the NATO military alliance as a result of Russia's invasion of its neighbor.
Stoltenberg said that NATO would respect the decision of Finland, regardless of what the conclusion was.
However, if Finland decides to go through with its membership, they are confident that NATO allies will welcome them, and they can decide to have them as a member of the allies.
Sweden has also stated that it is open to reconsidering its non-alignment policy as the war in Ukraine prompts an increase in support for NATO membership.
A flurry of opinion polls in Sweden published since March shows that almost half of the citizens favor joining NATO.
Stoltenberg's comments come after a two-day meeting of foreign ministers at NATO's headquarters in Belgium as Russia continues to redeploy forces to Ukraine. It may seem that Russia is preparing for an offensive in the Donbas region in the next few days.
On Apr. 7, Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba pressed the military alliance to give Kyiv more weapons to defend itself against Russian forces.
In February, cybersecurity experts warned US businesses about potential cyberattacks and asked them to tighten their security.
In October 2021, Microsoft claimed a Russian hacking group was behind a cyberattack that affected 22,000 people.
Related Article: US Cybersecurity Needs to Fill 600,000 Positions as Country Prepares for Possible Cyberattack From Russia
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Written by Sophie Webster
