The IT Army of Ukraine is a volunteer cyberwarfare organization created at the end of February 2022 to fight against the digital intrusion of Ukrainian information and cyberspace after the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.[1][3] The group also conducts offensive cyberwarfare operations, and Ukrainian government cyber official Victor Zhora said its enlisted hackers would only attack military targets.[4]
Formation
On 26 February 2022, the Minister of Digital Transformation and First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov, announced the IT Army’s creation.[5]
According to Reuters, the Ukrainian government asked for volunteers from the country’s hacker underground to help protect critical infrastructure and conduct cyber spying missions against Russian troops. Yegor Aushev, a Ukrainian cybersecurity firm co-founder, wrote, “Ukrainian cybercommunity! It’s time to get involved in the cyber defense of our country,” asking hackers and cybersecurity experts to submit an application listing their application specialties, such as malware development and professional references.[1]
Aims
The volunteers who join the group are divided into offensive and defensive cyber units. While the offensive volunteer unit would help Ukraine’s military conduct digital espionage operations against invading Russian forces, the defensive team would be employed to defend infrastructures such as power plants and water systems.[1]
The Ukrainian government used Twitter and Telegram to share a list of Russian and Belarusian targets for the army to attack.[6] Russian ransomware operators responded by offering their assistance to counter the Ukrainian effort.[7]
Activity
- Fedorov requested the assistance of cyber specialists and tweeted a Telegram with a list of 31 websites of Russian business and state organizations.[8][9][5]
- On 28 February 2022, the IT Army hacked the website of the Moscow Stock Exchange. The IT Army posted that it had taken them only five minutes to render the website inaccessible.[10][11][12]
- On the same day, the IT Army hacked the website of Sberbank, the largest bank in Russia. The IT Army had also launched attacks on other Russian and Belarusian sites, including the government websites of Russia and Belarus, the FSB, and the Belarusian state news agency BelTA, among others.[9][13]
- According to Reuters, the group targets Russian power grids and railways to prevent Russian infrastructure from reaching Ukraine.[2] This included technologies such as GLONASS.[2]
References
- ^ Jump up to:a b c d Schectman, Joel; Bing, Christopher (25 February 2022). “EXCLUSIVE Ukraine calls on hacker underground to defend against Russia”. Reuters. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
- ^ Jump up to:a b c Schectman, Joel; Bing, Christopher; Pearson, James (2 March 2022). “Ukrainian cyber resistance group targets Russian power grid, railways”. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
- ^ Todd, Drew (25 February 2022). “Anonymous Hacking Group Targets Russian Government”. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
- ^ “Ukraine cyber official: We only attack military targets”. The Independent. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
- ^ Jump up to:a b Pearson, James (27 February 2022). “Ukraine launches ‘IT army,’ takes aim at Russian cyberspace”. Reuters. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
- ^ “Is a Russian cyberwar coming?”. The Washington Post. 7 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
- ^ “Russian ransomware gang threatens countries that punish Moscow for Ukraine invasion”. Politico.
- ^ “”IT army of Ukraine 2022″”. Telegram. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
- ^ Jump up to:a b Goodin, Dan (1 March 2022). “After Ukraine recruits an “IT Army,” dozens of Russian sites go dark”. arstechnica.com. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
- ^ Uberti, David (28 February 2022). “Hackers Target Key Russian Websites”. The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ Coble, Sarah (28 February 2022). “Moscow Exchange Downed by Cyber-Attack”. Infosecurity Group. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
- ^ “”Disabled in 5 minutes”: Ukrainians hack Moscow Stock Exchange”. pravda.com.ua. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
- ^ Mott, Nathaniel (27 February 2022). “Ukraine Enlists Hackers in ‘IT Army’ Targeting Russia, Belarus”. pcmag.com. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
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