Special Report: Hackers Brought Down Ukraine Government's Public-Facing Digital Infrastructure

Message stated 'be afraid and expect the worst,' Attacks follow breakdown of diplomatic talks, US, UK and EU reach out to help, Ukraine says most of affected resources have already been restored

In attacks that are ominous for their timing, hackers brought down several Ukrainian government websites posting a message on the site of the Foreign Ministry saying, “Be afraid and expect the worst.” The attacks came after the apparent breakdown of diplomatic talks between Russia and the West intended to forestall a threatened Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine did not directly blame Russia for the attack but pointedly noted a long record of Russian online assaults against Ukraine.

“Ukrainians! All your personal data was uploaded to the internet,” the message read. “All data on the computer is being destroyed. All information about you became public. Be afraid and expect the worst.” It also raised several historical grievances between Poland and Ukraine.

The hacks crippled much of the government’s public-facing digital infrastructure, including the most widely used site for handling government services online, Diia, which also has a role in Ukraine’s coronavirus response and encoura…