The latent cyberwar between Russia and its neighbors could well have resumed with renewed vigor on the side of Ukraine.
This morning, several official government sites remain inaccessible and are the target of intimidating messages. An investigation has been opened by both Ukraine and the European Union.
Ukraine suffers (again) a massive cyberattack
This Friday, January 14, 2022, a cyberattack was launched against several official Ukrainian websites. At noon, for example, the site of the government cabinet was still not accessible. In addition to this, the websites of the defense and security councils, but also of the Ministry of Education are affected.
Several intimidating messages have also been left in three languages, Russian, Ukrainian and Polish, on the sites in question. According to The Verge, it would have been written: Ukrainians! All your personal data has been uploaded to the public network. All data on the computer is destroyed, it is impossible to restore them. All information about you has become public, be afraid and expect the worst. It’s for your past, your present and your future “.
It’s like watching a bad TV movie with the theme of mass piracy on an obscure channel, and yet. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Ukraine has been the victim of such an attack. Already in 2015, in particular, a cyberattack carried out via the Trojan horse Black Energy against a Ukrainian nuclear power plant had plunged 230,000 people into darkness for six hours on December 23 (and it was not only -1 outside ). This time (again), the country behind this attack was Russia.
Russia may well be behind the attack (amazing)
It is therefore almost natural that all eyes are on this Friday morning towards Moscow. On the Ukrainian side, the euphemism is in order: It’s too early to draw conclusions, but there’s a long record of Russian aggression against Ukraine “. Same story on the side of Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. If he ” had no proof of who was responsible “, he laconically added that” we can imagine who is behind this “.
Russian cyberattacks have become commonplace in the region for many years, particularly against Ukraine, with the aim of assuaging Russian control over certain successful (Crimea) or coveted (Donbass) territories. A veritable cutting-edge weapon upsetting traditional international relations, these repeated attacks have also contributed to forging extraordinary response capabilities. The case of Estonia is a notorious example. A country from which Ukraine would be tempted to draw inspiration if it does not want to suffer new large-scale attacks.
It remains to wait for the potentially surprising (no) conclusions of the ongoing investigation. The EU, according to Sky News, has already scheduled an emergency meeting to respond to this attack.
On the same subject :
Cyberdefense and cyber-influence: the new priorities of the French army
Source: The Verge
20