On Friday, Jan. 14, over 70 official Ukrainian websites were hacked and defaced, with reports of ominous messages such as, “Ukrainians—be afraid, and expect worse.”
ZDnet business news site reported: “The attack, which Ukrainian officials initially called ‘massive,’ took down several government websites in Ukraine, including those for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Education and Science.” The Security Service of Ukraine, State Special Service and Cyber Police said 10 of the government websites “were subjected to unauthorized interference.” Ukrainian news outlet Ukrinform said the websites for the country’s energy, treasury, environment, veterans, and state emergency service departments were defaced.
On cue, known hacker groups associated with Russia were immediately blamed, or put “under suspicion” as being responsible for the attack.
