UKRAINE RUSSIA REWRITING RULES OF CYBER WAR
When the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, a second and unprecedented battle got underway. Websites taken down, defaced, private data stolen and broadcasts hijacked.
I’ve traveled to Ukraine to speak to those fighting in the cyber war and they’ve said the economic losses to this are pretty high.
To find out how governments on either side are working with these armies of vigilante hackers unleashing forces that they might not be able to control.
kill milk
Of such, kill milk is the leader of a Russian hacker and it’s been attacking Ukraine and its allies since his country’s invasion. He despises the west and with bombastic videos has rallied a telegram group of hackers and supporters nearly a hundred thousand members strong.
He wouldn’t agree to a direct interview but after weeks of asking he sent us a video before breaking of communication.
The theatrical clip from kill milk shows him burning the NATO flag and later takes the NATO website offline temporary and leaves it experiencing availability issues.
And it’s not just Russians who are hacking for Russia. Two hackers and American and a Dutch national have carried out disruptive but temporary attacks on Ukraine and its allies to lie too.
No target is off limits
No target is off limits. Recently, kill milk called for attacks on hospitals in countries donating tanks to Ukraine
On the other side vigilante groups like Anonymous have joined the fight carrying out hundreds of attacks against Russia. Recently another group called one fist Hacked a Russian radio station and played a fake air raid siren.
Alexander hackers responsible, for miss flight and central Ukraine, carried out hacks with one fist and a vigilante group called the IT army of Ukraine. Its telegram group is two hundred thousand strong
As ordinary Russians complained on line, the regulator admitted it had been hit by large Ddos attack. A blunt but effective tool for taking a website or service offline temporarily.
However, it seems the lines between vigilante hackers and military hackers have been blurred since the invasion.
As the capital Kiev braced for attack, Roman a hacker was helping carry out criminal hacks and building software for the war effort as part of a volunteer group. Even before he was recruited Roman confirms that his hacking team did work directly with Ukrainian authorities.
“They started give us some targets and say what to do went to do” Roman.
“What sort of targets were you going for in those early days” Reporter.
“Logistics, telecommunication. the service companies. there were some disruptions seen in the railway ticketing” Roman.
“So, you took out the ticketing system for the southern Russia railway?” Reporter.
“For something like twenty hours so no one could get tickets from the machines. And many more I can’t publicly admit” Roman.
It’s the kind of attack that Ukraine’s cyber military could never publicly carry out themselves as a ‘responsible nation’. But it’s seemingly comfortable to stand back and watch.
Ukraine Government
McCullough Federal is minister for digital transformation. As the full-scale war broke out, it was his department that controversially set up the telegram group for the IT army of Ukraine. Are lines blurred between what is and was criminal hacking and what is now accepted and encouraged by the government? Asked on his view that anyone hacking Russia currently is not doing anything criminal, he said he has never heard anything about.
But there appears to be collusion on the other side. Evidence is growing that on the Russian side, a military teams could be working directly with the likes of kill milk. The Russian authorities didn’t reply to our emails. kill milk denies his group links to any special services.
Ukraine cyber security Defense HQ say kill net is a persistent problem. But they’re facing attacks from dozens of other groups too. Victor is the leader of Ukraine’s cyber security authorities. He says attacks from suspected Russian cyber military are the most troubling and serious.
Just like in the physical realm Ukraine’s defense in the cyber realm is being praised. Some sources though say the country’s worse affected than they’ve been admitting publicly.
Private cyber security companies
Ukraine are also being aided by cyber military teams and private cyber security companies. This is paid for from tens of millions of dollars donated to Ukraine’s cyber defense. Some predict that the severity of attacks will increase as Russia struggles on the physical battlefield. There’s a concern that activists might cause serious harm if attacks get out of control.
Thankfully the war has proven to be less destructive than the physical war. This conflict is no doubt rewriting the rules of engagement online.
