When dealing with computer attacks, the media only report on individual cases, overlooking the overall battlefield. They intermix criminal operations with those directed by states against other states. And, in the latter case, they only focus on attacks against their countries and allies, never on those carried out by their own camp.

According to a study based on data gleaned from Webster (USA), Ruixing (China), Comodo Security Solutions (USA) and NTT Security (Japan), in 2018, computer attacks were launched from from the United States (27%), China ( 10%), the Netherlands and France (4% each) and Germany (3%). These numbers encompass attacks of all kinds.

Throughout 2020, according to Nikolai Murashov, deputy director of the NKTsKI – the Russian National Coordination Center on Computer Incidents (a department of the FSB created three years ago) – 68,000 computers dedicated to attacking the Russian state from abroad were disabled by their home states at the request of the Kremlin. While 9,000 Russian computers dedicated to attacking foreign states were also disabled at the request of the foreign states concerned. These last figures only apply to criminal attacks.