Kyiv / Moscow – A major cyber attack on Ukraine was revealed on Friday. The cyber-attack targeted nearly 70 websites linked to the Ukrainian government, with messages beamed in Polish and Russian language. Senior Ukrainian official has claimed that Russia must have been behind the attack. However, no concrete confirmation has been given. Earlier, in 2015 and 2017, it was revealed that Russia had launched major cyberattacks on Ukraine.
On Friday, along with the Ukraine Ministry of Foreign Affairs, websites of various embassies, the National Security and Defense Council, the Ministry of Education and Science and the State Emergencies Service websites were targeted. Messages in Russian and Polish were left on some of these websites. It contained information of Ukrainian citizens acquired from websites, and it was warned to be released. Ukraine’s Security and Cyber Services (SBU) denied the allegations. No sensitive information was missing in the attack, said Ukraine.
Oleg Nikolenko, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, signalled that ‘Investigation is still ongoing, but the Security Service of Ukraine has obtained preliminary indicators suggesting that hacker groups associated with the Russian secret services may stand behind today’s massive cyberattack on government websites.’ Russia has already denied the allegations made on it earlier. Reactions have emerged from NATO and European Union to the cyber attack on Ukraine.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that ‘NATO’s strong political and practical support for Ukraine will continue,’ in light of the cyber attacks. He further provided information that ‘In the coming days, NATO and Ukraine will sign an agreement on enhanced cyber cooperation, including Ukrainian access to NATO’s malware information sharing platform.’ EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy President Josep Borrell has said that the member countries of the Union have begun to mobilize to co-operate with Ukraine. Though there are no concrete proofs of who launched the attack, it might be easily imagined; he said, directing to Russia without taking names.
Meanwhile, Russia has again taken an aggressive stance on its demands. Moscow cannot wait indefinitely for a response from the West, warned Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. ‘We have run out of patience,’ he sternly warned. The Russian Foreign Minister expressed that he also expected the United States and NATO to put it down on paper next week. NATO should not make Ukraine a member and halt its growing defence deployment in Eastern Europe, are the demands made by Russia.
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