Ukraine Alleges Data Collection by Russian Hackers on Soldiers

Ukraine's minister for digital transformation has reported that pro-Ukrainian hackers are collecting data on Russian military personnel to assist in making decisions on the battlefield.

Mykhailo Fedorov, in an interview with Bloomberg News from his office in Kyiv, Ukraine, reported that a volunteer group of computer specialists, known as the IT Army, is creating a "Book of Executioners" to document Russian soldiers who have killed and allegedly tortured Ukrainians.

Officials in Kyiv have reported to Bloomberg that they are keeping records of potential Russian hacking incidents in order to bring charges against Russian leaders in an international court.

According to Fedorov, the goal is to make it clear to everyone who has come into Ukraine and caused harm to its citizens.

He noted that modern technologies are aiding in the identification of Russian war crimes, such as facial recognition through the use of artificial intelligence to analyze data from public cameras.

Fedorov stated that the data collected is used to make decisions on the battlefield, but he did not provide any details on how the hacking is used to guide those decisions.

Since the start of the conflict, the IT Army has taken responsibility for launching cyberattacks that have caused disruption to Russian services.

The IT Army, a group of volunteers, managed to successfully hack RuTube, a Russian video platform owned by a company connected to the country's gas export monopoly. This malicious activity occurred on Victory Day, a Russian national holiday that celebrates the country's triumph over Germany in World War II. As a result, the site was disrupted for an entire week, according to Fedorov, the minister.

At the time, media reports indicated that the RuTube website was not functioning for a period of three days.

Fedorov reported that IT Army had successfully infiltrated RuTube's security system to the point of being able to disable the employees' badges, preventing them from entering the premises.

Gazprom-Media Holding, a subsidiary of Gazprombank that owns RuTube, declined to comment when asked for a statement.

The IT Army is striving to provide citizens in Russia with accurate information regarding the war, as state-run news sources are still referring to the invasion as a "special forces operation," according to the minister.

Fedorov emphasized the importance of Ukraine conveying the truth to Russians in order to combat propaganda. He also noted the need to weaken the backing of Russian President Vladimir Putin and those who are in favor of the war.

Fedorov made his comments in the wake of a series of cyberattacks that were allegedly carried out by Russian state-sponsored hackers against Ukrainian infrastructure prior to the February 24th ground invasion. He estimated that the attacks had been in the works for between six months and a year. In order to limit the damage, the Ukrainian government took the step of shutting down websites and the diia.gov.ua app, which is used by citizens to store passports, driver's licenses, and tax payments.

Fedorov stated that Ukrainian officials had been taking precautionary measures for months prior to the cyber attack. Allies had alerted Kyiv of the potential digital threats to energy infrastructure, which enabled the government to identify weak spots and take steps to protect them from Russian hackers.

Last autumn, we established a red team to begin scanning and attacking our own systems. We also implemented new regulations for cybersecurity starting in November.

The efforts to combat Russian hackers are still in progress. It has been reported by Fedorov that the hackers have been targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure, and that this activity has been linked to missile attacks that have been attempting to cause power outages in the nation.

He revealed that they were attempting to access the grid, but declined to give further information due to security concerns.

He warned that Russians may be attempting to access our systems, so it is important to build up our strength and knowledge. We are constantly conducting audits to ensure our security.