Ukrainian Hackers Claim Cyber Attack on Russian Weapons Lab
Aug. 19—Cyber activists from the “BO Team” attacked the Russian Internet provider Vega, which resulted in the blocking of the work of facilities including the All-Russian Research Institute of Technical Physics, a developer of nuclear munitions, Ukrinform reported yesterday.
“The successful hunt of the BO Team cyber activists continues. Its next victim was the Internet service provider Vega from the city of Snezhinsk, Chelyabinsk region (the closed administrative-territorial formation Chelyabinsk-70, known since Soviet times),” the hacker group said in a statement to Ukrinform.
“The results exceeded expectations. More than 1173 of the provider’s switches and 10 of the company’s servers were taken out of action, and the information on them was completely destroyed. As a result, the provision of Internet and communication services to a number of strategic enterprises of the city has been blocked for five days in a row, and the prospects for their full restoration leave much to be desired….”
The BO Team says that Vega is the only internet provider in the city. At the same time, one of the city’s main enterprises, All-Russian Research Institute of Technical Physics (VNIITF), a developer of nuclear munitions, is connected only to this provider, they say.
“The key thing our hackers got was personal data and documents of this plant, which is under sanctions. It is already obvious from them who is helping the institute to circumvent them and how … BO Team is happy to take full responsibility for this disruption and promises that it will not be the last,” the cyber activists said.
Interfax UA adds one crucial detail: “Cyber specialists of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine (GUR), jointly with the BO Team hacker group, conducted an effective operation near Chelyabinsk to paralyze the work of an enterprise that develops nuclear weapons for the aggressor state Russia.”
While Ukraine likes to take credit for such dirty work, it were likely that these operations were conducted with the help of NATO, and its various cyber-warfare units, including one associated with GCHQ in Great Britain.
