Ukraine: “The first cyber war in the history of mankind has begun”

In Ukraine, a Russian cyberattack on Monday brought down Ukrtelecom, the leading Internet service provider! Since the start of the conflict, Ukraine has recorded 60 cyberattacks, and it’s the whole world, whether it’s private companies like Microsoft and Oracle, or foreign public services that are helping Ukrainians resist in the cyberspace.

While the Russian army stagnates on the ground, even retreats in certain parts of Ukraine, the country has decided to strike in the ” tunes or rather in the field of telecommunications. The Ukrainian Internet service provider Ukrtelecom has thus been the target of a powerful cyberattack “, announced on Monday the Ukrainian government.

A neutralized attack according to the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection (SSSCIP) of Ukraine, and considered “the most serious” since the Russian invasion. It’s as if a cyberattack brought down Orange or Free in France, with all the consequences that this can entail for companies and administrations.

Maintain services to the armed forces

NetBlocks, which tracks internet outages around the world in real time, found that Ukrtelecom went offline on Monday morning with an activity rate of 13%. Since the start of the war, the rate had dropped from 100% to 80% due to numerous cyberattacks, but on Monday, this rate therefore fell to its lowest level.

Alp Toker, director of NetBlocks, explained to Forbes than ” the gradual loss of connectivity was a sign that it was not a power or cable outage but of a cyberattack. ” The new attack has deeply reduced Ukraine’s connectivity nationwide, with a duration and prolonged impact. Unlike the string of blackouts and blackouts in the hottest conflict zones, this one has hit the country’s national operator to the core, and it appears to be struggling to mitigate the incident.. »

Number 1 in telephony in Ukraine, Ukrtelecom actually took several hours to restore its services, and according to the SSSCIP, the priority was to “ preserve its network infrastructure and continue to provide services to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations”. As a result, Ukrtelecom temporarily limited the provision of its services to the majority of private and business users. »

Sixty different cyberattacks

Last week, Ukraine’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) revealed that the country had been subjected to 60 different cyberattacks : eleven had targeted the government and the local authorities, including eight striking the army and the forces of order. Only four had hit telecommunications and other tech companies. According to this organization, the majority of these cyberattacks focused on the collection of information, although at the beginning of the conflict it was also emphasized “wiper” type cyberattacks that simply erase content from targeted devices.

For SSSCIP Chairman Yurii Shchyhol, it is simply ” the first cyberwar in human history “. ” In this war, the entire computer community of the world has united in its reaction against injustice and against the attempts of Russian troops to destroy our country. We do our best to stop the aggressor », he continuesand it reveals that computer giants like Oracle and Microsoft lend a hand. ” Our main challenge today is victory over the enemy on all battlefields including cyberspace he concludes.