Ukrainian military intelligence increases cyberattacks against Russian targets

Ukraine’s military intelligence, the GUR MO, claimed two cyberattacks against sensitive Russian targets at the end of January 2024. The attacks were part of Ukraine’s strong response to the Russian cyberattack that disabled the country’s leading mobile network provider, Kyivstar, in December 2023. The incident had significantly impacted the Ukrainian population, triggering an escalation in the cyber warfare between the two countries.

On January 27, 2024, the GUR MO thus stated on Facebook it had hit IPL Consulting, a Russian industrial computer systems giant. “Our specialists infiltrated the company’s internal network and destroyed its entire IT infrastructure, including 60 TB, dozens of servers and databases,” explains Ukrainian military intelligence.

On January 30, 2024, the GUR MO also claimed on Telegram to have taken out a Russian Defense Ministry server used for “special communications”. The attack is thought to have interrupted “the exchange of information between Russian Defense Ministry departments” through the secure channel.

Still on January 30, the Russian media RBC revealed that a “technical problem”, in the process of being resolved, was disrupting a number of websites in Russia. No link has yet been established between this large-scale breakdown and Ukrainian intelligence and affiliates.