Cyber experts of the Security Service of Ukraine, together with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, have exposed a large-scale campaign by Russian special services to systematically hack the messengers of officials, military personnel, politicians, and activists. The geography of hostile operations covers not only Ukraine, but also European countries and the US.
Cyber experts of the Security Service of Ukraine, together with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, have exposed a large-scale campaign by Russian special services to systematically hack the messengers of officials, military personnel, politicians, and activists. The geography of hostile operations covers not only Ukraine, but also European countries and the US.
As the SBU press service notes, the main goal of these hacks is to gain access to sensitive information of a military, political, and economic nature that users exchanged, as well as to steal their personal data.
To carry out cyberattacks, Russian hackers use combined methods of social engineering. In particular, to lure passwords to accounts, the enemy most often uses phishing SMS-messages on behalf of «support teams». Such messages are disguised as the work of official technical bots. In addition, attackers calculate the psychological state of the victim: messages are often sent in the morning hours, when a person has not yet had time to fully concentrate and is most vulnerable.
The department emphasizes that not only corporate or state systems, but also personal accounts of ordinary Ukrainians are under the sights of Russian special services and hacker groups controlled by them.
In this regard, cyber experts urge citizens to strictly adhere to basic rules of digital hygiene. In particular, it is recommended to regularly check active sessions in messenger settings and end all unknown connections, be sure to enable two-factor authentication with a complex PIN code, and refrain from transferring any confirmation codes to third parties. They also advise not to follow suspicious links (even from familiar contacts), scan QR codes from unknown bots, or open files in questionable chats.
It was previously reported that the Russian special services and the disinformation structures they control are shifting their focus from banal spam on social networks to systematic «data poisoning». They are trying to create an alternative information ecosystem of fake think tanks, media outlets, and Wikipedia clones. The main goal of this campaign, called «Project 2026,» is to force Google’s search algorithms and popular AI-based chatbots to present pro-Russian narratives to users as verified facts.
