Ukraine’s intelligence agency has conducted a digital assault operation against contractors associated with Russia’s state-owned energy company Gazprom.
The attack was primarily directed at Gazstroyprom, a St. Petersburg-based organization leading Gazprom’s gas production, transportation, and related processing operations across Russia.
Kyiv’s decision to infiltrate the firm was due to its support for Moscow’s continued aggression on Ukraine’s eastern border, according to multiple sources.
The cyberattack, conducted in partnership with the Ukrainian Armed Forces, also affected 22 companies related to the development and sustainment of the federation’s oil and gas infrastructure.
Reports said that over 120 physical computer network servers were disabled by the government-backed hacking campaign.
An additional capability targeted was file storage containing 2,000 terabytes of documentation.
Moreover, approximately 10,000 employee computers across the companies were rendered inoperable.
Sources noted that the damage inflicted on involved firms amounted to “tens to hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Current Cyber Defense Status
Ukraine received more than $500 million in funding from partner nations for fiscal 2024 to bolster its cyber capabilities amidst Russia’s invasion.
Another donation of over $5.2 million is expected in early 2025.
Also in 2024, Kyiv revealed its intent to open a new military branch dedicated to cybersecurity due to increasing threats in the digital domain.
To complement the military’s future cyber plans, the Ukrainian defense agency launched an incident response hub to mitigate enemy cyberattacks targeting the armed forces’ critical infrastructure.
