Russian hackers are targeting official Ukrainian government websites, while Ukraine is calling on cyber security experts to help defend its systems as fighting rages on between the two countries on ground.
On Wednesday, a day before Russia invaded Ukraine, the websites of Ukrainian ministries and banks became unavailable, BBC reported.
The immediate suspects were Russians. Some of those cyber attacks were indeed carried out by Russian hackers, though not under direct instructions from the state, according to BBC.
Behind them, were hackers operating in small groups. Some of them have reportedly been acknowledged by Russian President Vladimir Putin as “patriotic hackers”, according to news agency AFP.
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One hacker, identified as Dmitry, told BBC that since “everyone is attacking Ukraine servers”, he also decided to set up a hacking team.
"I am thinking we should cause some disruption too?" he was quoted as saying by BBC.
Dmitry claimed that his six-member team took down many government websites of Ukraine. The team also reportedly sent bomb threats to schools and discovered how to set up fake emails.
"This is just the beginning," the man cautioned. "You've got to understand we are being careful and watching what we do at the moment.”
In Ukraine, requests for hackers have emerged on some online forums, news agency Reuters reported. The government is reportedly looking for volunteers to help defend is infrastructure and also carry out cyber espionage against Russia, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, a hacking collective called Anonymous has promised support to Ukraine. It claimed to have taken down the website of Russia Today, a state controlled TV network.
The #Anonymous collective has taken down the website of the #Russian propaganda station RT News.— Anonymous (@YourAnonOne) February 24, 2022
(With inputs from AFP and Reuters)
