Cybersecurity experts and investigators from the Security Service of Ukraine are gathering evidence against hackers from the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Federation (known as GRU), who carried out an attack on one of Ukraine's national mobile operators, Kyivstar. After conducting all necessary examinations and announcing suspicions, the materials of this investigation will be transferred to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
This was announced by the head of the SSU Cybersecurity Department, Ilya Vityuk, in an interview with the Ukrinform.
"We are working to declare suspicions in accordance with our legislation and subsequently transfer these cases to the ICC. War criminals must be judged at the international level!" - emphasized Ilya Vityuk, stressing that cyber attacks on civilian infrastructure should be recognized as war crimes.
Currently, the SSU has determined that the attack on Kyivstar was carried out by the SandWorm hacker group, which is a regular unit of the Russian GRU.
According to the head of the Cybersecurity Department, the SSU is currently conducting a series of examinations regarding the affected systems and the damages caused by the hackers. The security service has also sent requests for additional information from international partners.
Ilya Vityuk emphasized that within the framework of the criminal proceedings, the SSU is investigating all participants involved in this attack.
"Responsibility for the actions taken should lie not only with the specific hacker but also, at a minimum, with the commander of the military unit and the leadership of the special service engaged in destructive activities," - the head of the Cybersecurity Department stated.
He also highlighted that there are only three cases in the world where suspicions were announced against hackers for cyberattacks on infrastructure, with one of them being the result of the SBU's actions.
Additionally, Ilya Vityuk revealed that during full-scale warfare, the Security Service blocks around 4,500 cyber attacks annually.
A special priority in cybersecurity is given to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Ministry of Defense since attempts by the Russian forces to interfere with military systems occur regularly.
"Employees of the Cybersecurity Department regularly work in military units, headquarters, go to the front lines, check devices and systems for unauthorized intrusion," - said Ilya Vityuk. Specifically, the SBU prevented technical penetration by the enemy on 1,700 devices of Ukrainian military personnel.
In addition to cyber attacks, Russian special services conduct psychological operations to discredit the leadership of the Armed Forces. For example, there have been information attacks and attempts to hack official accounts, as well as the creation of dozens of fake pages impersonating Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.
Similar discrediting attacks are also carried out against SSU employees: they receive physical threats, letters with signs of recruitment and blackmail, and so on. Ilya Vityuk noted that there have already been fake disclosures against him personally, and possible new attacks may occur.
"Information can be easily manipulated to try to influence someone, but we are ready even for such methods of warfare," - he concluded.
