MAJOR OFFENSIVE IN UKRAINIAN CYBER WAR

While fierce fighting is ongoing on the battlefield, attacks also continue in cyberspace. On the night of February 13, several NATO websites were subjected to a massive cyberattack. Including websites of the headquarters of the special operations forces, the US Ramstein military base in Germany and other resources. NATO cybersecurity experts have launched an investigation into the incident. On Monday, Alliance Secretary General Stoltenberg claimed that access to most of the sites were restored, but security operations continued. He assured that classified information was allegedly not affected and the attack had no consequences for NATO missions and operations. The Western media blamed the hacker group Killnet, allegedly linked to Russia, for being behind the attack. This group has repeatedly stopped the services of European airports and other important state resources and hacked tens of thousands of accounts belonging to FBI employees. On January 25, hackers of Anonymous, Infinity and KillNet groups put the websites of the Ministry of Defense and the German government out of service. The websites belonging to the airports of Hamburg, Dresden and Dusseldorf were also among the targets. The attack was likely launched in response to the decision of German authorities to transfer Leopard tanks to Ukraine. On January 19, hackers claimed that they had successfully put the website of the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic, as well as its subdomain and open data portal, out of work. The website of the Czech machine tool manufacturer TAJMAC-ZPS was also targeted. Earlier, the hacker group reported hacking the system of the Tax Service of the United States. In October, Killnet reported an attack on Bulgarian state websites, in November, the websites of Austrian energy companies were targeted. In June, another attack hit Lithuanian websites after the country blocked transit to Kaliningrad. Attacks on the military structures of Ukraine continue as well, from which more and more information is being leaked. On February 14, Russian hackers from the Solntsepek group published a fresh list of more than 100 Ukrainian soldiers who mainly work in the field of electronic warfare. Their personal data was leaked. Last week, a group known as the “Joker DPR” exposed the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Alexey Reznikov, who is stealing salaries of Ukrainian soldiers. An order was leaked to the network, confirming that the real salaries received by the servicemen are significantly less than the amounts indicated on paper. Earlier, the Joker DPR leaked documents proving that Reznikov steals money intended for the repair of military equipment, fuel and lubricants, food for soldiers, he makes money on dead and missing soldiers and so on. After a major corruption scandal, some Kiev officials demanded Reznikov’s resignation, but he still holds the post of Minister of Defense of Ukraine.