Ukrainian websites knocked offline ahead of possible Russian invasion

The phrase “we live in interesting times” is arguably an overused statement, but in February 2022, the world sits on what could turn out to be World War 3. Russian troops are on the border with Ukraine and could invade the sovereign country this week.

Those of an old disposition can still remember the Cold War and the threat of nuclear war. How sitting under a school desk to avoid a nuclear bomb is still bizarre years later. A school desk isn’t going to save anyone from a nuclear bomb, but for the first time since the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union, sadly, it’s not an impossibility that duck and cover might be a consideration again.

That said, it’s 2022 and the best way to start an invasion is to cripple the internet and online functionality of the country you’re about to invade. That is exactly what is now happening in Ukraine.

According to the Associated Press, a series of cyberattacks has knocked out the websites of the Ukrainian army, the defense ministry and major banks. The report claims that the sites were knocked offline via a distributed denial-of-service attack while adding that the DDoS might be “a smokescreen for more damaging cyber mischief.”

“As the largest Ukrainian state-owned bank was affected, the escalating Ukraine-Russia crisis again shows the power of state actors to inflict far-reaching disruption,” Quentin Wineteer Sr. federal program manager at security intelligence company LogRhythm Inc. told SiliconANGLE. “Thankfully, the outcome was just disruption and not loss in this instance. This is an emphatic reminder to global companies of the need to take a deep look at their information security posture, draw from internal security resources or lean on partnerships from industry leaders who are ready to defend against the cyberthreats of the modern world.”

Rick Holland, chief information security officer and vice president Strategy at digital risk protection firm Digital Shadows Ltd. noted that “threat actors with Russian affiliations have certainly leveraged massive DDoS attacks in the past, as we saw in Estonia in 2007.”

“Those attacks crippled the Estonian economy, but thus far, the DDoS attacks against the Ukrainian defense ministry and financial institutions appear to be harassment similar to the previous DDoS attacks seen in January,” Holland explained. “They could be a precursor to a significant attack or a component of a broader campaign to intimidate and confuse Ukraine.”

Photo: mil.ru/Wikiemedia Commons