Senator Warner Warns That Cyberattacks Could Pull NATO Into Russia-Ukraine Conflict Sparking Slew Of WW3 Memes

By Aidan Walker
779 views
• Published 2 years ago

Published 2 years ago

Early this morning local time, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with shelling reported in major cities and clashes along the northern, southern and eastern borders of the country. Alongside the deployment of conventional forces, Russian cyberattacks against Ukrainian banks, government ministries and media outlets also ramped up. Some fear this cyberwar could pull the United States and other NATO countries into a broader conflict, leading to a sharp increase in memes about World War III.


Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, shared in an interview today that he sees two possible paths into further conflict: either the Russian government purposefully launches a cyberattack against NATO countries in response to sanctions, or a piece of malware used in Ukraine hops the border and infects computer networks in a NATO country.


The second scenario has happened before in 2017 when a piece of ransomware called "NotPetya" used against Ukraine ended up causing billions of dollars of unintended damage across Europe in the most severe cyberattack ever. But the intensity and severity of the latest cyber attacks against Ukraine exceed any seen during the past eight years of the conflict.


Under Article 5 of the 1949 NATO treaty, allied nations are obligated to treat an attack against one NATO member as an attack against all members. NATO includes the United States, Canada and almost all of Europe. In 2016, NATO recognized cyberspace as a “domain of operations," meaning that an attack in cyberspace could be treated the same way as an attack on land, sea or air. So, if a NATO country targeted by a destructive Russian cyberattack were to invoke Article 5, the entire alliance could be at war with Russia.


However, cyberwar remains a gray area. There are no clear rules of engagement for cyberattacks, or how bad one would have to be to start a full-on war. NATO countries are already under constant cyberattack, and nobody has invoked Article 5 over it yet. The American government also says it does not expect a major cyberattack anytime soon. But still, the risk has risen significantly in recent days.


The escalation in the potential of a larger conflict has subsequently caused WW3 memes to spike again across the web, including on Twitter, where #WW3 has trended again for the second time in two years as people post a wide range of takes on the conflict.


Top News

The "Chill Guy" meme copyrighted by creator Phillip Banks.

The 'Chill Guy' Meme Has Been Copyrighted By Its Creator Phillip Banks, Who Says He's DMCA Striking Brands Using It For Profit

Sophie Rain shrugging and a tweet reacting to her OF claim.

OnlyFans Creator Sophie Rain Claims Top Supporter Spent $4.7 Million On Her Content, But Many Are Saying It's Fake

Minecraft Movie trailer with the Children Yearn For the Mines meme reference.

'The Children Yearn For The Mines' Meme Mentioned In New 'A Minecraft Movie' Trailer, Sparking Renewed Interest In Child Labor

Lucky Luciano from the You Know I Had to Do it to Em meme in 2014 and 2024.

Lucky Luciano Had To Recreate His Iconic Photograph 10 Years Later In First-Ever Interview

Comments ( 0 )

Sorry, but you must activate your account to post a comment.