NEW FRONT OF THE WAR
After Iran hit the Amazon infrastructure in the Gulf countries in March, Russia and Ukraine also began to launch attacks on data centers. The attacks, which intensified in September and October, revealed the strategic importance of digital infrastructure in wars. Targeting facilities serving military intelligence and artificial intelligence systems also threatens civilian communications and economic activities.
IRAN HIT AMAZON FACILITIES
In the Israeli and US war on Iran, Tehran’s two Amazon web services data centers in the United Arab Emirates were directly damaged; A facility in Bahrain was also affected by the attack nearby. Amazon announced on September 15 that access to some systems and data was not possible. Emily Harding, an expert at the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), pointed out that data centers have turned into a new war front.
UKRAINE SHOTS RUSSIAN TECHNOLOGY GIANT
Three large data centers of Russian technology giant Yandex were targeted in the unmanned aerial vehicle attacks carried out by Ukraine since October 8. The facility in Sasovo contained two of the three supercomputers the company used to develop artificial intelligence models. While the attacks caused disruptions in cloud services, Russian Railways and some financial institutions were also directly affected.
WHY ARE DATA CENTERS TARGETED?
Modern militaries use data centers for intelligence analysis, target acquisition, drone operations and military planning. Kirk Cameron, founding Director of the US-based Virginia Tech Advanced Computing Institute, states that the loss of critical centers could paralyze military operations. According to Cameron, the US army’s Maven system and artificial intelligence applications in Ukraine show the importance of digital infrastructure on the battlefield.
