Ukraine Claims Massive Cyberattack Hacking the Government Websites

On Wednesday, a cyberattack was launched on several Ukrainian government websites. According to the authorities, Ukraine’s government, the foreign ministry, and state security service websites were all down as a result of a large Denial of Service (DoS) attack that began at 4:00 PM. Ukrainian news portals Klymenko Time and RBC reported that the websites for the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, as well as the Cabinet of Ministers and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, were down.

Ukraine has become the target of a cyberattack for the second time in less than a week. On February 15, Ukraine’s defense ministry website and banks were hacked, and the country’s information security center blamed Russia. Ukraine has been the target of a series of cyberattacks in recent weeks, which Kyiv has blamed on Russia, despite Moscow’s denial.

Cyberattacks were launched against many Ukrainian government websites in January. According to a warning posted on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website: “Ukrainians! All of your personal information has been made public. Be afraid and prepare for the worst. It’s your past, present, and future,”. Many people assumed Russia was behind it.

Tensions have been rising among the two former Soviet neighbors in recent months, as Moscow has ringed Ukraine with an estimated 190,000 troops.