The Emergency Data Airlift That Saved Ukraine (w/ Sarah Armstrong Smith)

What really happened in the hours before Russia invaded Ukraine — and how close did cyber warfare come to shutting a country down? In this episode of Soul of the CIO, we sit down with Sarah Armstrong-Smith, former Microsoft cybersecurity leader, to unpack one of the most significant cyber events in modern history. Just 12 hours before the physical invasion of Ukraine, Microsoft detected 300 simultaneous cyberattacks using destructive malware designed to cripple critical national infrastructure. Sarah takes us inside Microsoft’s unique vantage point during the lead-up to the invasion — from tracking nation-state threat actors and surging cybercrime during the pandemic, to the unprecedented decision to airlift Ukraine’s government data into the cloud days before missiles struck.

This conversation explores: How cyber warfare now precedes kinetic warfare Why cybercrime exploded during COVID-19 The rise of “cybercrime as a service” What Microsoft saw before the Ukraine invasion How private tech companies are now on the front lines of geopolitics Why future cyberattacks may lead to real-world casualties

It’s a rare, behind-the-scenes look at how global cyber defense, cloud infrastructure, and geopolitical conflict are now inseparably linked — and what every CIO and security leader needs to understand as cyber threats move from disruption to destruction.

Soul of the CIO is Sponsored by Nexthink, the leader in digital employee experience. Learn more: nexthink.com Subscribe for more conversations with the leaders shaping the future of IT and technology. Find the full in-studio video version on YouTube.