Ukraine Claims It Repelled “Massive” Russian Cyberattack

On December 4^th, the Security Service of Ukraine, the SBU, claimed that it had stopped a “massive” cyberattack and blamed it on Russia, according to a statement. The attack was allegedly aimed at the information and telecommunication systems of the judiciary of Ukraine.

Specialists of the SBU noted that the cyberattack was performed via an e-mail containing counterfeit accounting documents infected by a virus. After opening the files on a computer, malicious software for unauthorized interference with judicial information systems and theft of official information installed itself.

The SBU claimed that its officers had discovered that the virus program was connected to control-command servers that, amongst others also include Russian IP addresses. Where other IP addresses originated from is unspecified.

According to experts cited in the SBU statement, the intention of the alleged Russian special service hackers was to block the sustained functioning of the judicial information system of Ukraine. Due to joint actions of the Judicial Administration and the SBU the negative actions were allegedly localized and further development was prevented.

Finally, the statement concluded with “the SBU, as the key structure for ensuring national security, continues to implement a set of necessary measures to protect the critical information structure of the state.”

No other details were provided regarding the extent, timing, nature or severity of the hacks.

The Ukrainian leadership had apparently found that it forgot to blame Russian hackers and decided to do so. Similarly, to other Western countries who have continuously blamed the notorious Russian hackers for various misconduct, without providing evidence.

Amid the tensions following the November 25^th incident between a Ukrainian naval group and Russian coastal guards south of the Kerch Strait, Russia is also holding naval and surface-to-air missile drills in the Black Sea.

Reuters cited a Russian Defense Ministry statement, which said that two submarines, the Rostov-on-Don B-237 and the Stary Oskol B-262, practiced emergency deployments for detecting, accompanying and destroying sea and coastal targets with rocket fire.

The statement provided no start and end date of the exercises, however Turkey’s navy published a shipping warning saying that “firing exercises” were expected in the region between December 3^rd and 9^th.

Illustrative image

In addition to that, TASS reported that on December 3^rd, the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s coastal missile systems conducted drills in Crimea.

“Personnel of Bastion and Bal anti-ship coastal missile systems of the Black Sea Fleet jointly with mobile coastal reconnaissance systems conducted planned exercises at Crimean firing ranges to drill practical skills of delivering simulated missile strikes,” a statement by the fleet’s press service said.

These drills are unequivocally a show of force by Russia, and they will serve as a pretext for Ukraine and its Western partners to express even more claims of aggression and signals of an “invasion”