Ukraine responded to the Russian cyberattack against the air-raid alert app, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. According to him, Kyiv took action after it became clear that the attack was targeting Ukrainian civilians.
“We are only responding to their attacks,” Zelensky said in an interview with PBS NewsHour, quoted by the Kyiv Independent. He described the incident as part of a series of Russian cyberattacks against banking systems, pension payments and social services.
False alerts in Ukraine
The attack against the Ukrainian “Trevoga” app was detected during the night of November 2. Users in Kyiv and other areas received notifications about a radiation hazard, a chemical attack and street fighting. Some of the messages in Russian also mentioned the “Oreshnik” missile.
The Ukrainian Air Force warned that the app had probably been compromised and urged citizens not to follow instructions in the suspicious notifications. According to Ukrainian command spokesman Yurii Ihnat, the cyberattack did not affect the security and defense control systems, as the app is separate from military communications.
Russia confirmed an attack against its own app
Several hours later, Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations reported that its mobile app had been targeted in a “massive cyberattack.” As a result, users received false warnings that nuclear warheads had been launched at all Russian regions. The messages urged people to stock up on food for three weeks and take shelter in basements.
The Russian agency specified that the breach had affected only the mobile app, which is an additional source of information. The main alert system using sirens, SMS, radio and television was operating normally. Moscow did not say who was behind the attack and did not officially state that it had been carried out by Ukraine.
Sources: kyivindependent.com, apnews.com