Hostile software is even used in the beauty industry. The head of the IT Ukraine Association, Maria Shevchuk, told dou.ua about the threats and challenges of Russian software, on which Ukraine has spent more than a billion hryvnias since 2017.
Hostile software is even used in the beauty industry. The head of the IT Ukraine Association, Maria Shevchuk, told dou.ua about the threats and challenges of Russian software, on which Ukraine has spent more than a billion hryvnias since 2017.
Despite the sanctions, Ukrainian companies still use the Russian «1C» and its disguised counterparts. Maria Shevchuk puts the figure at 500 thousand companies, which is 75% of companies. She notes that the Russians simply re-registered sanctioned companies in Europe, which allows them to operate calmly on the territory of Ukraine.
«1C» has absolute clones re-registered in Europe: BAS, BAF, UA-Budget, Complex Budgetary Systems, etc. So some people think: 'Well, this is a Polish company, what’s the problem? We 'migrated'. So one of our tasks is to inform people as much as possible that these are all Russian programs.», — said Maria Shevchuk.
According to Maria Shevchuk, many Ukrainians may not even suspect that they are leaving their personal data with Russians. As an example, she cites the CRM program for advance booking YCLIENTS, popular among barbershops and beauty salons. It is difficult to suspect that it is hostile, it was re-registered in Europe under the name Altegio, the site has a Ukrainian localization, which is filled with positive reviews from customers.
«Online manicure appointments via Instagram are often made through Altegio. That is, you leave your details, phone number, and actually mark the salon you go to… Congratulations! It’s all stored on Russian servers.», — added Maria Shevchuk.
Since the fall of 2024, the IT Ukraine Association has been coordinating the finalization of legislation on the prohibition of the use of software products and access to electronic information resources. Currently, there are several versions of the draft laws — the main and alternative, on which Maria and her team are working in close cooperation with the Defense Forces, the State Special Communications Service, and representatives of industry associations (EBA, AmCham). The first single draft of the draft law is planned for March, after which public and parliamentary discussions will begin.
According to the website " Vorozhiy Soft «, Ukrainians purchased 200 million hryvnias worth of Russian software in 2024, and over the 3 years of the full-scale invasion, this figure is 640 million.
