Chaotic Hacktivist Attacks Take Place in Response to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

Hackers used data-destroying malware on Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, Conti ransomware gang vows to defend Kremlin as member leaks chats, Toyota shutters factories due to ransomware, more

Ukraine has been running a campaign asking developers to join an “IT army” tasked with specific cyber challenges. Ukraine is also making calls to technology leaders to do their part.

The “IT Army of Ukraine” supposedly already has nearly 184,000 users on its main Telegram channel and is using that account to name specific projects and call-outs for help to shut down Russian sites, Russian agents, and those working in concert with the country, and to mobilize those living in Ukraine around work they can do.

A call-out on the channel to shut down the API for Sberbank, one of Russia’s major banks, earlier today appears to have come into play, with the site currently offline. In addition, Belorussia’s official information policy site says was also taken offline after a call out on the channel.

The Ukraine IT Army called on members to launch attacks on Moex[.]com, Russia’s stock exchange. On Telegram, the IT Army claimed it took only five minutes to knock the site down. Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukr…