Tag Archive for: Ukraine

Ukraine Tracks a Record Number of Cyber Incidents During War

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Cyberwarfare / Nation-State Attacks
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Fraud Management & Cybercrime

Hackers Steal CCTV Footage to Study Efficacy of Missile Strikes and Drone Attacks

Mathew J. Schwartz (euroinfosec) •
November 16, 2023    

Ukraine Tracks a Record Number of Cyber Incidents During War
The aftermath of a Russian drone attack on a Kyiv energy facility on Oct. 27, 2022 (Image: State Emergency Service of Ukraine)

The tempo of cyberattacks against Ukrainian critical infrastructure has intensified this year – the second year in which Kyiv is fending off a Russian war of conquest.

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In the first 10 month of this year, Ukraine’s national computer emergency response team, CERT-UA, logged 2,054 cyber incidents, compared to 2,194 for the entirety of 2022, said Viktor Zhora, deputy chairman of Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection. Three-quarters of the incidents involved civilian infrastructure, Zhora told a cybersecurity conference in Dublin on Thursday.


Hackers’ top goals are to steal information on the disposition of forces, infiltrate organizations that provide critical infrastructure services and steal people’s personal information from organizations across a number of sectors, including insurance and healthcare, said Zhora, who addressed the IRISSCON conference, held by IRISSCERT – short for the Irish Reporting and Information Security Service – via video link.


Since Russia launched an all-out invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the most dangerous hacking incidents have typically traced to Russia’s GRU military intelligence group, he said. The greatest number of attacks this year appear to have been launched by the Federal Security…

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Ukraine Partisans Stalk High-Security Russian Base Again, Stick Photos on Internet

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Ukrainian partisans on Thursday published high-res photographs of the high-security base for Russia’s 126th Separate Coastal Defense Brigade, a formation deployed by the Kremlin to protect Moscow’s military facilities in the Crimea Peninsula from commandos and sneak attacks.

Images and text data made public by the umbrella Ukrainian partisan agency ATESH on the information app Telegram showed pro-Kyiv agents approaching within a few hundred meters of the Russian unit’s base near the village Perevalne, in a mountainous region of south Crimea.

The ATESH statement claimed its operatives reconnoitered the Russian brigade defenses and security thoroughly and left the scene without being detected.

“We managed to find out the brigade’s quantity, condition and range of military equipment. We have become convinced that fuel tanks are being actively used by the enemy. We also studied the patrol pattern around the military unit in detail,” the statement said in part.

ATESH said the grids of the Russian base were N44.851830, E34.318620. The location named by the partisan group matched past geolocations associated with the unit. Kyiv Post was unable to confirm other ATESH claims independently.

The Perevalne reconnaissance of the 126th Brigade’s home base was the second claimed by Ukrainian partisans in a public space. On Oct. 30 an ATESH statement said its operatives had managed to infiltrate agents inside 126th Brigade facilities and found the unit to be at 25 percent strength and individual soldiers suffering from poor morale.

ISW Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, November 9, 2023

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ISW Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, November 9, 2023

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Biden Worries House Tumult Could Disrupt U.S. Aid to Ukraine: Live Updates

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President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine arriving at the European Political Community summit in Granada, Spain, on Thursday.Credit…Marcelo Del Pozo/Getty Images

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine arrived in Spain on Thursday to participate in a European summit aimed at strengthening cooperation across the continent amid concerns about waning support for his country as it faces another winter of Russian aggression.

The Ukrainian leader’s trip to the southern Spanish city of Granada came a day after President Biden expressed worries that the recent political turmoil in Congress could disrupt the flow of U.S. aid to Ukraine.

“I think it’s too late for us to worry. I think we have to work on it,” Mr. Zelensky told reporters at the summit when asked if he was concerned about a possible scaling back of U.S. military aid.

He said that he was confident that the United States would continue to support Ukraine’s war efforts, noting that meetings with Mr. Biden and with Congress members last month were positive.

Mr. Zelensky earlier said that the “joint goal” of those gathering in Granada was “to ensure the security and stability of our common European home.”

“We will pay special attention to the Black Sea region as well as our joint efforts to strengthen global food security and freedom of navigation,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Ukraine’s key priority, particularly as winter approaches, is to strengthen air defense.”

E.U. leaders are expected to discuss long-term financial aid for Ukraine at a summit planned later this month in Brussels. On Thursday, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, told reporters in Granada that what Ukraine needed was “predictability and reliability” on direct budget support.

“I’m very confident of support for Ukraine from the United States,” she said. “What the United States is working on is the timing.”

Thursday’s meeting in Grenada comes amid concerns about potential cracks in Europe’s united front on Ukraine, as governments reckon with the economic and political costs of providing long-term support for Kyiv.

It is just the third meeting of the European Political Community, a…

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Russian hackers seek war crimes evidence, Ukraine cyber chief says – World

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KYIV: Russian spies are using hackers to target computer systems at law enforcement agencies in Ukraine in a bid to identify and obtain evidence related to alleged Russian war crimes, Ukraine’s cyber defence chief told Reuters on Friday.

The hackers, working across Russia’s foreign, domestic and military intelligence agencies, have stepped up digital intrusion campaigns targeting the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s office and departments documenting war crimes, said Yurii Shchyhol, head of the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine (SSSCIP), which handles cyber defence in the embattled country.

“There’s been a change in direction, from a focus on energy facilities towards law enforcement institutions which had previously not been targeted that often,” Shchyhol said.

“This shift, towards the courts, prosecutors and law enforcement units, shows that hackers are gathering evidence about Russian war crimes in Ukraine” with a view to following Ukraine’s investigations, he added.

The espionage activity will be flagged in an upcoming SSSCIP report, due to be published on Monday.

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The report, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters, says hackers were also trying to gather intelligence on Russian nationals arrested in Ukraine, with a view to “help these individuals avoid prosecution and move them back to Russia”.

“The groups we’ve identified as being engaged in this activity are part of Russia’s GRU and FSB intelligence agencies,” Shchyhol said.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry and the Federal Security Service (FSB) did not immediately respond to written requests from Reuters for comment. Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency could not be reached for comment.

Shchyhol declined to identify exactly which units had been targeted by the hacking campaign, citing security concerns. The number of cybersecurity incidents documented by the SSSCIP grew by 123% in the first six months of this year compared with the second half of 2022, he added.

Russian hackers have prioritised targeting government bodies and trying to gain access to their e-mail servers, Shchyhol said, without elaborating. Reuters was unable…

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