Ukrainian government websites, banks hacked as war tension inceases

Ukraine’s government websites and banks have been subjected to several cyber attacks as Russia escalates tensions in the region.

Several government websites, as well as some banks, were targeted by a DDOS attack. Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov said on the social media platform, Telegram, according to Bloomberg.

Since late January, Ukraine has been subjected to two waves of cyberattacks. The most recent, which occurred last week, affected the country’s top banks, which were able to fully resume operations within a few hours. The DDOS attack on Ukraine on February 15 was the greatest in the country’s history, and the United States and the United Kingdom both blamed Russia.

Following Moscow’s recognition of two breakaway regions, Ukraine moved closer to imposing a statewide state of emergency, with President Vladimir Putin saying he is open to “diplomatic solutions” as long as Russia’s interests and security are protected.

The state of emergency would continue for 30 days at first, allowing Ukrainian officials to impose restrictions on movement and the media, with parliamentary ratification expected later on Wednesday. Even yet, a top security official downplayed the measure’s impact and urged calm.

According to the news agency, Interfax, several Ukrainian official websites, including those of the Cabinet of Ministers and the parliament, were targeted by cyberattacks on Wednesday. It made no reference to the source.

Ministries’ websites, such as the Foreign Ministry’s and the Defense Ministry’s, are either temporarily unavailable or not functioning properly. The individual press departments acknowledged that the websites were down, but did not comment on why.

According to persons familiar with the situation, the European Central Bank is instructing Russian lenders to report on the risks they face from a variety of diplomatic and military scenarios related to Moscow’s tensions with the West over Ukraine.

The ECB, based in Frankfurt, is working with banks to analyze threats to their liquidity, loan books, trading and currency positions, as well as their capacity to keep operations operating, according to the sources contacted by Bloomberg.

The regulator, in touch on a daily basis in some cases, wants lenders to assess scenarios including severe economic sanctions as well as the real-world consequences of an invasion, they said.