War in Ukraine: Pulse of Cyber Defense (April 29, 2022)

 

The State Service of Special Communication and Information Protection of Ukraine: War in Ukraine: Pulse of Cyber Defense – Weekly analytics, April 29, 2022

UKRAINIAN CYBERHUB

The largest since World War II, war on the European continent continues not only on the land and in the air, but also in cyberspace. The State Service of Special Communication and Information Protection of Ukraine is responsible for the standards of cybersecurity in the country and takes an active part in its defense. The lessons of this war are extremely important for enhancing the protection of democratic states attacked by aggressive countries like russia.

In this regard, the SSSCIP initiates making available a public analytical report on the state and means of cyber defense. The SSSCIP CyberHub will make public its data and conclusions that may be used by the global cyber community for their own defense.

The quantity of enemy cyberattacks has tripled compared to the previous year

Highlights

• The number of cyberattacks on the critical Ukrainian IT infrastructure and public information resources has tripled since the beginning of the war
• The world starts to realize that Russian hackers won’t limit themselves to Ukraine.
• Ukraine is introducing Hideez and Yubico solutions to its government agencies for their protection against phishing.
• The number of enemy PSYOPs has been increasing drastically since the beginning of the intensive Russian invasion to Ukraine.

Details:

1. The quantity of enemy cyberattacks has tripled compared to the previous year: Public authorities, media resources, power and logistics sectors are major targets. Russians pursue the same goals in cyberspace as their troops do in the battlefield, i.e. to inflict the biggest possible damage to infrastructure, not so much to military as to civil one.
2. Thanks to the agreements between the Ukrainian Government and Elon Musk, Starlink became operational all over the country
3. The world starts to realize that Russian hackers will not limit themselves to Ukraine: “We have repeatedly pointed out the threat of Russian cyberattacks not only to Ukraine, but to other countries as well. This threat is now becoming apparent to and discussed by governments of various countries, recognizing that Russian hackers won’t limit themselves to Ukraine. We should intensify cooperation at the government level to ensure cyber resilience of the whole civilized world,” says Yurii Shchyhol.
4. Ukraine is introducing Hideez and Yubico solutions to its government agencies for user account protection from unauthorized access: Protection of user accounts from unauthorized access is one of the most urgent issues in the cybersecurity sector. Russian military hackers are actively using phishing emails to the Government and critical infrastructure facilities to steal employees’ account data and use them for future attacks. The hackers that attack Ukrainian public information systems and critical IT infrastructure are closely monitoring Ukrainian news. They would send phishing emails mimicking official decrees on government aid or public digital services, taking into account the latest events in Ukraine and exploiting
5. Russian hackers are actively exploiting patriotic topics in their attacks against Ukraine: The SSSCIP recommends all citizens of Ukraine to be wary of any messages from unverified sources, especially related to patriotic themes, governmental support issues or other sensitive topics (verified
   sources are official public authorities and official publications). Do not click any links from unverified sources, even those received from your friends.
6. Russian hackers carry out informational and psychological operations (PSYOPs) through online messengers and social media, targeting civilians as well as soldiers: All Ukrainians can protect themselves simply by changing a few parameters for their messengers in Security & Privacy settings.