Russia thought it would have an easy time steamrolling the Ukrainians, toppling their government and re-absorbing the country into the Federation.

That assumption was, thankfully, incorrect.

Now they're also discovering that it's tough to wage cyber-warfare when the other guy has one of the world's biggest tech companies on their side:

Last Wednesday, a few hours before Russian tanks began rolling into Ukraine, alarms went off inside Microsoft's Threat Intelligence Center, warning of a never-before-seen piece of "wiper" malware that appeared aimed at the country's government ministries and financial institutions.

Within three hours, Microsoft threw itself into the middle of a ground war in Europe — from 5,500 miles away. The threat center, north of Seattle, had been on high alert, and it quickly picked apart the malware, named it "FoxBlade" and notified Ukraine's top cyberdefense authority. Within three hours, Microsoft's virus detection systems had been updated to block the code, which erases — "wipes" — data on computers in a network.

You gotta have mad respect for that kind of hustle: In roughly the same time it would take to watch the new Batman movie, Microsoft had coordinated with a foreign government under siege, custom-tailored a new virus signature to detect the malware, and updated its networks to fend off the attack.

Well done, folks.

But wait! There's more!

Then Tom Burt, the senior Microsoft executive who oversees the company's effort to counter major cyberattacks, contacted Anne Neuberger, the White House's deputy national security adviser for cyber- and emerging technologies. Neuberger asked if Microsoft would consider sharing details of the code with the Baltics, Poland and other European nations, out of fear that the malware would spread beyond Ukraine's borders, crippling the military alliance or hitting West European banks.

Before midnight in Washington, Neuberger had made introductions — and Microsoft had begun playing the role that Ford Motor Co. did in World War II, when the company converted automobile production lines to make Sherman tanks.

Microsoft is out here nailing a global coordinated cyberwar effort like a pro skier nailing K75 jumps in freestyle:

Even if you're an Apple guy, be thankful that Microsoft is on our side and not Russia's!

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