HOT: Ukraine claims to have blocked a very sophisticated Russian attack

Ukrainian officials on Tuesday said they had successfully thwarted a Russian cyberattack on Ukraine’s power grid that could have caused power outages for 2 million people. raised concerns that Moscow would increase its use of digital weapons in its neighbour, according to the New York Times.

Ukraine’s power grid has been cut twice before, in 2015 and 2016, causing widespread blackouts. Russia is accused of using online attacks in addition to traditional warfare, and just days before Russia launched its special operation into Ukraine on February 24, Kiev said it suffered an attack. The network targeted the Ministry of Defense, the military and two banks.

But experts say the latest cyberattack against the power grid – while unsuccessful – is one of the most sophisticated they’ve seen to date.

The cyber attackers used a complex chain of malware, showing that the attack plan was carefully prepared over several weeks, to maximize damage by sabotaging essential computer systems. to restore the Ukrainian power grid.

Ukrainian officials said the attack is expected to begin on the evening of April 8 when people return home from work, and if it is successful, the power outage will affect about 2 million people, while restoration work is done. electricity will be very difficult.

Ukraine’s security and intelligence service alleges that the hackers who carried out the attack were linked to the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence unit, and used malware similar to that deployed in Ukraine. The 2016 cyberattack left at least 100,000 people “in the dark”.

In recent weeks, US officials have also warned that Russia could try to expand its cyberwarfare – possibly even by disrupting US pipelines and power grids in retaliation for sanctions. sanctions that the US has imposed on Moscow.

“It seems that we were very fortunate to have been able to react in time to this cyber attack,” said Victor Zhora, deputy director of Ukraine’s cybersecurity agency.

According to Mr. Zhora, Ukraine’s financial, media and energy companies have been subjected to frequent cyber attacks since the beginning of the war. His agency said that since the conflict broke out, it has recorded three times the number of cyber attacks compared to the previous year.

“Attempting to cut power is certainly something very ominous,” said Jean-Ian Boutin, director of threat research at cybersecurity firm ESET, which helped Ukraine analyze malware. . In fact, they (Russia) have the tools that allow them to do that and it’s very worrying for the future.”