Ukraine’s intelligence launches cyberattack on Russian war-linked resources

Ukraine's military intelligence agency says it carried out a cyberattack on Russian resources involved in the war effort, with the operation targeting several companies producing electronic components and military infrastructure, resulting in data destruction, server access, and website defacement.

Sep 8, 2024 - 17:00

Ukraine’s intelligence launches cyberattack on Russian war-linked resources

ukrainian main directorate intelligence's allegedly hacked russian computer 3f07de88-b029-4965-93e3-a9c8feca78c0

On 8 September, Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) reported its successful cyberattack on Russia in the cyber domain. According to HUR, its cyber specialists attacked “several Russian resources involved in conducting the genocidal war.”

The cyberwar between Russia and Ukraine has been ongoing since the Euromaidan Revolution in 2014, shortly before Russia’s initial invasion began. Following the full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine’s cyber forces, including the so-called IT Army, HUR, and the SBU, have launched numerous cyberattacks on Russian infrastructure, military systems, and communications. In turn, Russian hackers, often state-sponsored, target Ukrainian government sites, banking systems.

HUR says the cyberattack affected companies manufacturing components for radio-electronic industrial base and other spare parts for Russian weapons, as well as metal processing equipment. The intelligence agency also reported that the resources of companies involved in developing military infrastructure for the aggressor state, Russia, were targeted.

Among the targeted entities, HUR lists SMKomplekt EK, KristElKom, KonturNIIRS, Chip-prof, Chelyabinsk Plant of Industrial Modernization, Sibinstrument, smetka.ru, and “several others.” The agency also mentions that the propaganda platform Simferopol Forum, positioning itself as a Crimean resource, experienced difficulties as a result of the attack.

HUR states that its cyber specialists gained access to 14 servers during the operation. The agency claims to have destroyed the internal infrastructure of the targeted entities by erasing system files, databases, and backup copies.

Furthermore, HUR states that its cyber intelligence specialists placed greetings for the Day of Military Intelligence of Ukraine, which was on the day of the attack, 7 September, on the websites of the attacked resources.

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