Unknown Hackers Deface Ukrainian Government Websites

Several websites belonging to the Ukrainian government were defaced by unknown hackers. The attack took place overnight from January 13 to 14, 2022, and affected the websites of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Defense, State Emergency Service, the Cabinet of Ministers, and others.

According to The Record, all affected resources were wiped, and their content was replaced with a statement published in Russian, Ukrainian, and Polish (see photo above).

The Ukrainian authorities officially confirmed the attack, posting relevant messages on their official websites as well as on Facebook and Twitter. All affected resources were temporarily taken offline, and some sites are still not functioning, displaying maintenance notices.

Officials stated that an investigation is underway, and so far, all evidence points to Russian hackers.

Attack Exploited CMS October Vulnerability

Cybersecurity journalist Kim Zetter reported that sources within the Ukrainian government told her the attack exploited a vulnerability in the October CMS, which was used by all the affected websites. This information was later confirmed by Ukraine’s CERT.

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