Cyberattack on Ukraine's government websites came from Russia - experts

A massive cyberattack on Ukraine's government websites was carried out from Russian territory, according to a study conducted by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

That's according to the press service of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, Ukrinform reports.

"On the night of January 13-14, a cyberattack hit a number of government websites - the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the State Emergency Service, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Sports, the Ministry of Energy, and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy. Contrary to the allegations of the attackers, no data, including personal data, was leaked. The Diia app runs smoothly, all registers are securely protected. A number of government websites have been suspended as a precaution," the statement said.

It says that according to the study, the first data suggest that the attack was carried out from Russian territory. This is not the first time that Ukrainian websites have been exposed to attacks since the beginning of Russia's military aggression, and some cyberattacks have been so widespread that they have become part of the world's textbooks for cyber specialists. The purpose of such attacks is to destabilize the internal situation in the country and to sow chaos and despair in society.

"There has been no massive attack on government agencies for a long time. We assume that the current one is related to Russia's recent defeat in the talks on Ukraine's future cooperation with NATO. Moscow has recently resumed military exercises near Ukraine's borders. Cyberattacks on Ukraine's government agencies may also be part of this psychological attack on Ukrainians," the ministry said.

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