Large-scale cyberattacks in Ukraine target many government websites

Several Ukrainian government websites were subjected to a large-scale cyber attack on Friday, January 14, according to Kiev. The assault occurred, which was not immediately claimed In the context of escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia, which Kiev and its Western allies accuse of planning a new invasion of Ukrainian lands.

The official website of the Ministry of Education and Science is temporarily closed due to the global attack that took place on the night of January 13 to 14.The latter announced on his Facebook page. And Agence France-Presse indicated on Friday morning that the websites of other ministries, including the websites of emergency situations and the websites of foreign affairs, were not accessible.

However, the authorities have not disclosed whether the IT infrastructure is down or down. “Our experts are working hard to restore computer systems and the police have opened an investigation”Ukrainian diplomatic spokesman said.

Threats to the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Before the State Department website was inaccessible, a threatening message in Ukrainian, Russian and Polish languages ​​was posted by the perpetrators of the cyber attack on its homepage. “Ukrainians, fear and prepare for the worst. All your personal data uploaded to the web »-Can we read. This message was accompanied by several slogans, including the crossed out Ukrainian flag.

Ukraine has been the target of cyber attacks several times in recent years, notably against several critical infrastructures in 2017 and against the electricity grid in 2015. Kiev and its Western allies have repeatedly accused Moscow of carrying out computer attacks against their countries. The sites and infrastructure that Russia is defending itself against.

In October, the US judiciary revealed that it had convicted six Russian military intelligence agents of committing these cyber attacks. It is also believed to be the source of other attacks around the world, such as the one targeting Emmanuel Macron’s party ahead of the 2017 French elections and the 2018 Olympics in South Korea.