Some 1.5M e-signatures exposed as Ukrainian cyberattack targets FSB-affiliated data center

Ukrainian hackers attacked servers of the federal certification center that issuing digital signatures, putting its operation to a halt.

This was reported by Information Resistance, Ukrinform saw.

"Servers of the Osnovanie, whose centers are based in over 60 regions of Russia, were targeted by hackers who succeeded in stealing 1.5 million digital signatures," the report reads.

Ukrainian hackers with BO Team declare their intention to sell the data to raise funds in support of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The Russian company, in turn, refutes the report that their digital keys have been compromised. Experts, however, say digital signatures and other personal data could in fact end up in the hands of the BO Team, and users may also have difficulties with verification through e-signatures on third-party platforms until the consequences of the cyberattack are eliminated.

It is emphasized that the company is entitled by Russia’s Ministry of Digitalization to issue electronic digital signatures. It was created in 2010 and is a licensee of FSB and FSTEC, seen as the "holy of saints" in the country’s cyber security infrastructure. The company is represented by more than 140 branches.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, cyber activists launched an attack on the Russian Internet provider Vega, undermining operations of the All-Russian Research Institute of Technical Physics, the developer of nuclear munitions.