A series of cyberattacks have accompanied Russia’s military actions on Ukrainian territory. As a result, government websites in Ukraine are unreachable. Meanwhile, a ‘wiper’ malware was also found.
Several Ukrainian government websites are inaccessible today. According to Ukrainian media, there is a cyber attack. As a result, the cabinet, parliament, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs websites, among others, are inaccessible. In addition, some sites, such as those of the Department of Defense, have limited functionality.
The news coincides with the start of a large-scale military attack by the Russian army on Ukrainian soil. Over the past weeks and months, Ukraine has been a constant victim of various cyber-attacks. An accusing finger is pointed at Russia, which denies any involvement.
On Wednesday, Ukraine faced a new cyberattack targeting several official Ukrainian websites. This includes the sites of various government departments and those of the country’s two largest state banks. According to the Ukrainian Institute for Cybersecurity, this is a DDoS (Denial of Service) attack that is attributable to Russian operators, who “don’t even try anymore” to hide their identities. According to the authorities, the affected sites eventually succeeded in ‘redirecting traffic to another provider to limit the damage’.
Security guards ESET and Symantec are meanwhile talking about a new piece of malware circulating in Ukraine and allegedly infecting hundreds of computers there. It is a ‘wiper’, made to wipe all data from a PC in order to cause serious damage to computer systems. According to ESET, the preparation for that cyber attack has been going on for months. The cyber-attack code was compiled as early as December 28 last year, indicating that the plans had been prepared for some time.
Symantec Threat Hunter has discovered new wiper attacks in Ukraine, Latvia and Lithuania. The targets are financial services and government agencies,” Vikram Thakur, technical director at Symantec Threat Intelligence, told tech site BleepingComputer.
Ukraine has been the target of several large-scale cyberattacks against several government sites and banks in recent weeks. This is the second time wiper malware has been deployed in Ukraine. In January, Microsoft indicated that destructive malware was being used against government sites and banks in Ukraine in a major cyber attack. At the time, this was seen as the first step in a ‘hybrid war’.
Ukraine receives help from several countries in the fight against cyber attacks. The Cyber Rapid Response Team of the European Union, to which the Netherlands contributes, will investigate vulnerabilities in Ukrainian systems.
