Russia Hacked Ukraine’s Government Databases
The Ukrainian government’s databases, which contain sensitive information like tax records and biometric data, were hacked by Russia. This happened at the start of December.
People in Ukraine couldn’t sell cars, file legal claims, or register marriages because the government registries were not working. Cybersecurity specialist Karla Wagner tried to register an NGO through the Justice Ministry website but got inconsistent results.
The Justice Ministry later announced that a Russian hack had taken critical databases offline. These databases contained information like property ownership, tax records, and biometric data.
Ukrainian offices called it an act of war from Russia. A hacking group called XakNet took credit for the attack on Telegram and claimed to have deleted some registry data.
The Justice Ministry said that all its state registries were ready to operate but access to some registers was still limited. They also announced that access to government services through the Diia app would be available soon.
Experts say that this hack posed a major informational threat and highlighted how vulnerable Ukraine’s personal data is to cyber attacks. It also eroded public trust in the government, they said.
Karla Wagner, a cybersecurity specialist, said that the Ukrainian government digitized its services too quickly, which created vulnerabilities in the system. Mykyta Knysh, who worked in cybersecurity for Ukraine’s security services, agreed with Wagner and said that the agencies involved should have known better.
The hack contains information like individuals’ addresses and assets, as well as familial relationships. It is not yet known whether the hackers involved have actually re-written this information for certain civilians. Analysts at Flashpoint wrote that this hack provides opportunities for Russian intelligence to obtain more information about Ukrainian military and civilian government employees.
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