Data centers have become war targets. The attacks signal a new front in global conflict.

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   Data Centers Emerge as Frontline Targets in Modern Global Conflicts

   Data centers have transformed into military targets, signaling a new front in global conflict across regions from Iran to Ukraine and Russia. Physical vulnerabilities in these critical facilities expose global risks to artificial intelligence infrastructure and digital connectivity. Recent strikes disrupt essential services, derail artificial intelligence research, and impact civilian technology usage, leaving millions facing technical outages and darkness. Governments and companies now face urgent demands to secure these installations against escalating attacks as digital infrastructure becomes central to modern warfare.

   Why it matters

   Digital connectivity and artificial intelligence systems have become central to state power, making the physical hardware supporting them high-value military objectives. This shift extends traditional warfare into the digital and technological backbone of modern economies. Observers note that protecting these concentrated hubs of data poses unique challenges due to their physical nature.

   What is confirmed

   • Data centers have become war targets, signaling a new front in global conflict.
   • An analysis shows at least 27 attacks affecting data centers across global conflicts from Iran to Ukraine and Russia.
   • Ukrainian drone strikes have targeted Russian data centers, including facilities owned by Yandex and Sberbank.
   • Attacks on Russian data centers disrupt key services and derail artificial intelligence research.

   Still unconfirmed

   • Iran has conducted attacks against Amazon Web Services.

   What to watch next

   • Further government and corporate security measures implemented to protect physical data center infrastructure
   • Additional military strikes targeting artificial intelligence and cloud computing facilities in active conflict zones
   Sources used for this update (15)

   1. www.cfr.org — Ukraine’s Attacks on Russian Data Centers Lay Bare a Global Risk to AI
   2. www.nbcnews.com — Data centers have become war targets. The attacks signal a new front in global conflict.
   3. Euronews.com — Why are data centres becoming military targets?
   4. NBC News — Data centers have become war targets. The attacks signal a new front in global conflict.
   5. The Telegraph — World faces space war ‘within five years’
   6. Time Magazine — Why Data Centers Have Become Military Targets
   7. Mashable — Data centers are valuable targets, even outside of warfare
   8. www.cnn.com — Ukraine targets Russia’s ‘Google’ as the internet becomes a ...
   9. asiatimes.com — Data centers in the line of fire of Ukraine war - Asia Times
   10. www.livemint.com — Decoded: Why are data centres modern wartime targets?
   11. abcnews.com — Ukraine's strikes on Russian data centers disrupt key services and derail AI research
   12. jen.jiji.com — Presti: "Not armies of policemen but of poets and philosophers, sowing knowledge for the future of young people"
   confidence 95%