As Ukraine faces a possible Russian invasion, a group of hackers has defaced several Ukrainian government websites with threats, including the words “be afraid and expect the worst.”
The hackers struck on Friday, changing the homepages of Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Science, and others with a banner that warned local citizens their personal data had been leaked.
“Ukrainian! All of your personal data has been uploaded to the public network,” the message said, which was written in Russian, Ukrainian, and Polish.
“All data on the computer is destroyed, it cannot be recovered. All information about you has become public. Be afraid and expect the worst. This is for your past, present and future,” the message added while showing pictures with a Ukrainian flag and national symbols crossed out.
However, the Security Service of Ukraine says that none of the internal data on the affected government websites was changed or leaked. Nevertheless, the government is taking precautions to ensure the hackers have been rooted out.
“To prevent the attack from spreading to other resources and to localize the technical problem, a number of other government websites have been suspended,” the security agency added.
In the meantime, evidence is emerging that the mysterious hackers defaced the government websites by exploiting a publicly known flaw in a content management system. Ukraine's computer emergency response team is now urging affected site operators to patch the bug.
According to The Washington Post, Ukrainian authorities say the cyberattack, which also disrupted internet access, affected close to 70 federal and local government websites. The country is investigating who was responsible for the attack, but has yet to assign blame.
Many observers are already pointing fingers at Russia, which has long been accused of launching cyberattacks against Ukraine, including disrupting the country’s power grid. The websites were defaced as talks between the US, Ukraine, and Russia have stalled, raising the risk of a military confrontation.