Several major websites in Ukraine have fallen victim to a DDoS attack. When hackers carry out a distributed denial of service attacks, they flood the websites with traffic, forcing the websites to go down so that their intended users can’t access them.
Several websites in Ukraine go down under DDoS attacks
According to the Ukrainian cybersecurity center, the websites in Ukraine that have gone under the brute force of a DDoS attack include those operated by the nation’s Ministry of Defence, its Armed Forces, Oschadbank and Privatbank.
Ukraine’s Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security, also known as Stratcomm Centre, said Privatbank’s app is also down due to a DDoS attack. Some Privat24 users report that they aren’t able to access the app at all, while others say the app doesn’t reflect their correct bank balances and recent transactions.
The bank assured investors that there is no threat to their funds and that the cyberattack is exclusively related to the Privat24 app. It also said the rest of the financial transactions are being carried out as usual.
Oscadbank customers report errors when they try to access the bank’s website and that internet banking doesn’t work at all. The website for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence displays a message stating that it’s under maintenance.
Is Russia to blame?
The DDoS attacks on several websites in Ukraine come amid steadily increasing tensions with Russia. Citing a report from Russia’s TASS news agency, Reuters reports that Stratcomm Centre believes Russia could be behind the cyberattacks.
According to CBS News, a U.S. official reported that Russia moved some long-range artillery and rocket launchers into “attack positions” against Ukraine. Washington believes Russia will invade Ukraine by the end of the week, although the official said it’s unclear what form that attack will take.
Meanwhile, multiple sources such as the Mirror claim American intelligence said the Kremlin will order an invasion of Ukraine at 3 a.m. local time tomorrow.
UPDATE: Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense says “The MOU website was probably attacked by DDoS.”
❗️Сайт МОУ зазнав, ймовірно, DDoS-атаки: фіксувалася надмірна кількість звернень на секунду.
Проводяться техроботи з відновлення штатного функціонування.
Комунікація через сторінки в FB та Twitter, сайти АрміяInform https://t.co/ukMW41irPW та Армія FM https://t.co/IpDnBXoMXw.— Defence of Ukraine (@DefenceU) February 15, 2022
