A number of government websites in Ukraine were down on Friday after a huge hacking attack, Ukrainian officials said.
While it was not immediately clear who was behind the
attacks, they come amid heightened tensions with Russia and after talks between
Moscow and the West failed to yield any significant progress this week.
“As a result of a massive hacking attack, the websites of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a number of other government agencies are
temporarily down. Our specialists are already working on restoring the work of
IT systems,” spokesman of Ukraine's Foreign Ministry Oleg Nikolenko wrote on
Facebook on Friday.
Nikolenko told The Associated Press it was too soon to tell
who could have been behind the attacks. "It's too early to draw
conclusions as the investigation is ongoing, but there is a long record of
Russian cyber assaults against Ukraine in the past,” he said.
Moscow had previously denied involvement in cyberattacks
against Ukraine.
Websites of the country's Cabinet, seven ministries, the
Treasury, the National Emergency Service and the state services website, where
Ukrainians' electronic passports and vaccination certificates are stored, were
unavailable Friday as the result of the hack.
The websites contained a message in Ukrainian, Russian, and
Polish, saying that Ukrainians' personal data has been leaked to the public
domain. “Be afraid and expect the worst. This is for your past, present and
future," the message read, in part.
Ukraine's State Service of Communication and Information
Protection has said that no personal data has been leaked.
The US estimates Russia has massed about 100,000 troops near
Ukraine, a buildup that has stoked fears of an invasion. Moscow says it has no
plans to attack and rejects Washington's demand to pull back its forces, saying
it has the right to deploy them wherever necessary.
The Kremlin has demanded security guarantees from the West
precluding NATO's expansion eastwards.
Last month, Moscow submitted draft security documents
demanding that NATO deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries
and roll back the alliance's military deployments in Central and Eastern
Europe. Washington and its allies have refused to provide such pledges, but
said they are ready for the talks.
High-stakes talks this week between Moscow and the US, followed by a meeting of Russia and NATO representatives and a meeting at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, failed to bring about any immediate progress.
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