Thousands of volunteer hackers and IT professionals around the world are helping to protect Ukraine, and some are doing so by targeting Russian organizations with cyberattacks, a senior Ukrainian government cybersecurity official said on Friday.
Russia’s media, which “constantly lies to its citizens” and financial and transport organizations supporting military efforts, are among the potential targets of digital attacks by Ukraine’s so-called “IT army,” according to Viktor Zhora, an employee of Ukraine’s cybersecurity agency. the protection of government networks.
The IT Army is a free group of Ukrainian citizens and foreigners who are not part of the Ukrainian government, but Kyiv encourages them. This is an example of how the Ukrainian government is doing everything possible to try to slow down Russia’s military attack, and illustrates how cyberattacks have played a supporting role in the war.
The goal of Ukraine’s IT army is to do everything possible … to do it [the] the aggressor is uncomfortable with his actions in cyberspace and on Ukrainian soil, “Jora told reporters during a video conference on Friday.
Activists of various manners – from Belarusians, opponents of the war, to self-determined Russian vigilant hackers – have entered the information war and claimed to have hacked their opponents.
The website of the Russian state media TASS was hacked on Monday and briefly showed a message mentioning Russian victims in the war in Ukraine and exposing Russian President Vladimir Putin. Although it was not clear which example was responsible for the hacking, the logo of the hacker team Anonymous appeared on the TASS website.
More background: Calling on hacker volunteers last Saturday, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation Mikhail Fedorov tweeted a link to a list of potential targets that includes major Russian energy and financial companies.
Jora claims that any hacking carried out by the “IT army” is defensive in nature and that the Ukrainian government does not take responsibility for the cyber attacks that volunteers carry out against Russian organizations.
Ukrainian cybersecurity officials continue to work to protect government networks despite Russian bombings of key Ukrainian cities, Jora said.
“We are not afraid of escalation in cyberspace from Russia,” said Jora.
“We are much more afraid of missiles aimed at Ukrainian schools, hospitals and residential areas,” he continued.