Ukraine struck by “largest cyberattack” affecting critical infrastructure

Ukraine’s state registers, which are deemed critical infrastructure in the country, were knocked out for at least two weeks after a suspected Russian cyberattack.

The attacks knocked out network infrastructure that serves Ukraine’s state registers, the nation’s Justice Ministry announced. The registers contain essential data about Ukrainian citizens, businesses, and organizations and allow access to public services online.

According to Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, the attack was “the largest external cyber attack” on the state registers in recent times. This is saying a lot, given Russia has been persistently targeting Ukrainian systems since Moscow invaded its neighbor in February of 2022.

“Together with the team and specialists from other services, we are coordinating work on countering cyberattacks and restoring systems. It’s already clear that the Russians attacked to disrupt the work of the critically important infrastructure of the state,” Stefanishyna said in a Facebook post.

To mitigate the impact of the attacks, the Ministry of Justice decided to take critical systems offline.

The immediate focus is to restore the work of three systems that serve private individuals and businesses and hold information about real estate owners in the country. All are crucial for the functioning of economic activity in the country.

Stefanishyna’s post says restoring services will take at least two weeks. However, citizens will be granted access to limited services. The deputy PM also told local media that Russia will try using the confusion “in its information operations to sow panic among the citizens of Ukraine and abroad.”

The Justice Ministry, responsible for state registers, will conduct an investigation to understand better how its systems were knocked out, Stefanishyna’s said.