Russian hackers aren’t done with Ukraine

With Russian advancement in its war with Ukraine often stalled, the country has frequently turned to cyberattacks to cause mayhem for the defenders.

Around the Feb. 24 anniversary of Russia’s invasion, cybersecurity experts observed dozens of state-sponsored attacks on Ukrainian targets, including internet services, power stations, and government websites.

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Ukraine’s own State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection reported that the overall number of cyberattacks on the country in 2022 nearly tripled from 2021 levels. Attacks from Russian IP addresses increased by 21%, it said.

The Council on Foreign Relations’ cyber operations tracker logged 29 state-sponsored attacks on Ukraine in 2022, with nearly all attributed to hacking groups affiliated with the Russian government.

Still, the think tank’s list may not be exhaustive, cybersecurity experts said. Many cybersecurity organizations have seen a significant increase in cyberattacks on Ukraine and its allies since the invasion began.

For example, between Feb. 24 and March 1, 2022, the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security identified at least seven major cyberattacks against Ukrainian targets, with four Russian hacking groups identified as the likely culprits.

On Feb. 24, distributed denial of service, or DDoS, attacks targeted Ukraine’s defense ministry and major banks there. The U.S. government attributed the attacks to Russian military intelligence officers, noted Jack Nichelson, CISO of cybersecurity provider Inversion6. And on March 1, wiper malware targeted several Ukrainian organizations, including media companies and government agencies, with the goal of destroying computer systems and stealing data. Microsoft linked the attacks to Russian hackers.

“Cyberattacks have the potential to be a decisive factor in an active war scenario,” Nichelson said. “While it is true that cyber operations may not be the sole determining factor in the conflict’s outcome, they can significantly impact…