Cyber blast in Crimea. Ukrainian intelligence crashes Russian occupation servers
Illustrative photo: Ukrainian intelligence launches major cyberattack on Crimean occupation authorities (Getty Images)
Cyber specialists from Ukraine's Defense Intelligence (HUR) have carried out a large-scale special operation targeting the occupation authorities in Crimea.
According to a Ukrainian intelligence source speaking to RBC-Ukraine, the operation lasted several days.
A powerful DDoS attack effectively paralyzed the information systems and network infrastructure in Crimea.
While the Russian occupiers were scrambling to identify the cause of the government systems' failure, HUR cyber experts infiltrated the electronic accounts of the leadership of the occupation administration in temporarily occupied Crimea. They gained access to the following digital resources:
- electronic document management system DIALOG,
- systems SED and Delo,
- accounting platforms 1C:Document Flow, Directum, and ATLAS.
Over two days, 100 terabytes of documents belonging to the occupation authorities of the peninsula were downloaded.
Among the files were "top secret" documents containing data on military facilities and logistics routes used to supply occupying forces in Crimea.
"There's so much data extracted that we're about to learn a lot of explosive details about the operations and crimes of Russian occupiers in Ukrainian Crimea," the source said. We'd like to extend our thanks for helping this special operation succeed to Anton Lyaskovsky, the deputy health minister of the occupation government in Crimea," the interlocutor said.
After copying all valuable information, HUR wiped all data stored on the servers of regional and district government bodies, ministries, and agencies of the occupation administration in Crimea.
The successful Ukrainian hacker operation did not go unnoticed in Moscow.
Russia's State Duma has already labeled it an element of hybrid warfare. Meanwhile, the so-called Ministry of Internal Policy, Information and Communications of Crimea stated that "technical specialists are taking all necessary steps to restore services. However, some services may remain unavailable to users."
Notably, earlier this month, HUR cyber specialists targeted the Russian company Gaskar Integration, one of the largest suppliers of drones for the Russian army.
In June, Ukrainian hackers also attacked one of Siberia's largest internet providers, Orion Telecom.
Moreover, RBC-Ukraine sources reported that Ukrainian intelligence cyber experts hacked into the online system of Russian Railways. As a result, the official website of Russian Railways went offline.
