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Ukrainian investigators are reporting a shift in the strategy of Russian hackers.
Rather than going after hard targets, such as critical infrastructure, state-sponsored threat actors are now actively targeting the systems of war crimes investigators, according to Yurii Shchyhol, head of Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine.
Shchyhol – who spoke to Reuters ahead of the release of an SSSCIP report on Russian espionage activity – said that the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s office has experienced a significant uptick in attacks.
“There’s been a change in direction, from a focus on energy facilities towards law enforcement institutions which had previously not been targeted that often,” Shchyhol told Reuters.
“This shift, towards the courts, prosecutors and law enforcement units, shows that hackers are gathering evidence about Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
“The groups we’ve identified as being engaged in this activity are part of Russia’s GRU and FSB intelligence agencies,” Shchyhol said.
The upcoming SSSCIP report – which Reuters has seen – also highlights the activity of Russian hackers conducting their own investigations into Russian nationals already under arrest in Ukraine. These groups are seeking to assist their countrymen to “avoid prosecution and move them back to Russia”.
Reuters reached out to Russian authorities for comment, but none has been forthcoming.
Russia’s GRU – the Glavnoye Razvedyvatelnoye Upravlenie, or Chief Intelligence Office – is known to operate a number of hacking groups, including the 85th Main Special Service Center and Main Center of Special Technologies to name just two. A number of openly criminal organisations also operate with Russian support.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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