Ukraine and Russia

"War does not determine who is right - only who is left." - Bertrand Russell

Welcome to the SecFraudOps Newsletter. I’m focusing in on Ukraine this week. While you’re likely getting your news on this topic from many sources, I’ve put together a compilation of interesting stories you may have missed in the last week.

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Security and Fraud

Some are Joining The Cyber Fight | Ukraine recruits "IT Army" to hack Russian entities, lists 31 targets

Ukraine is recruiting a volunteer "IT army" of security researchers and hackers to conduct cyberattacks on thirty-one Russian entities, including government agencies, critical infrastructure, and banks. Saturday afternoon, Ukraine's Minister for Digital Transformation Mykhaylo Fedorov announced that they need volunteer "digital talents" for an "IT Army" to conduct operational tasks against Russia on the cyber frontline.

In most countries it isn’t legal to hack for any purpose, but that doesn’t stop many from doing it. With the overall disapproval across the globe I don’t think many governments will be prosecuting those who help in this way. That said, is it Ethical to join a cyber army? Is it even helping those actually waging war? Many questions come to mind with this topic…

Cyber Tools and Techniques Used in the War | Cyber attacks on Ukraine: DDoS, new data wiper, cloned websites, and Cyclops Blink

The attacks in the physical world have been preceded and accompanied by cyber attacks:

• Renewed DDoS attacks have been launched against websites Ukrainian government agencies and banks

• New data wiper malware has been discovered on Ukrainian computers, as well as machines in Latvia and Lithuania

• Researchers have identified a web service hosting cloned copies of a number of Ukrainian government websites and the main webpage of the Office of the President, booby-trapped with malware

This article goes into detail about what was seen early on in the invasion. It also notes that some of these attacks didn’t just go for Ukraine targets. Latvia and Lithuania got it too. The article also goes into depth on how some of the attacks work and why with some visual diagrams.

Fun War Zone

Data Visualization of Internet Issues | A map of Ukraine's degrading internet infrastructure [OC]

This reddit data viz shows internet issues as of the 25th alot has happened since then, including the promise of additional satellite internet coverage from StarLink. But as of right now much of the country has spotty to no internet access.

Something Interesting

Stay Up to Date | CNN Live Updates: Russian Invades Ukraine

What we're covering here

• Talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations will take place Monday on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, President Zelensky's office said as Russian President Putin ordered his country’s deterrence forces — including nuclear arms — be placed on high alert.

• The US continues to see Russian forces face “stiff resistance” and their momentum slow in Ukraine's northern part, while forces are having a “little bit more success” in the south, a US defense official says.

• The White House and several EU nations announced the expulsion of certain Russian banks from the SWIFT banking system Saturday evening.

Outside of news sites, be wary on social media. Focus in on News in your social media portals (like the screenshot above). Do not trust or click on everything related to the Ukraine/Russia conflict. This will soon or already is a target for criminals and fraudsters to phish you.