Number of cyber attacks increase as Ukraine prepares for Presidential elections

Ukraine is experiencing an increased number of cyber attacks on the lead-up to its presidential elections. The country believes the cyber attacks are aimed at disrupting the elections.

The largest country in Eastern Europe is preparing for its presidential elections which are due in March. But the country is experiencing an increased number of cyber attacks as it prepares for the elections. Serhiy Demedyuk, Head of Ukraine’s cyber police said that they had detected cyber attacks on electoral servers and personal computers of the election staff. Apparently, the attackers were using “virus-infected greeting cards, shopping invitations, offers for software updates” and other phishing tactics to capture passwords and personal information.

He further said that “Payment occurs in cryptocurrency in most cases ... and from the same wallets that were used to finance the previous attacks. This indicates that the same hacker organizations that are under the control of Russian special agencies are engaged in this.” This could indicate that there was some sort of Russian involvement in the attacks.

The relations between Russia and Ukraine have been in dire straits ever since Russia invaded and took control of Crimea in 2014. Ukraine has repeatedly reported of Russia launching many cyber attacks targeting the country’s cybersecurity. But the superpower denies all such allegations.