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The Belarusian Intelligence Service is suspected of being linked to the cyberattack that hit Ukraine. PHOTO/Ukraine
“Our initial belief was that the UNC1151 group may have been involved in this attack,” Deputy Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Sergey Demedyuk, said in written comments to Reuters.
Read: Massive Cyber Attack Hits Ukraine Amid Tensions With Russia
“The cyber espionage group in question is understood to be affiliated with the special services of the Republic of Belarus,” according to Demedyuk. “Attacks on government websites are just a cover for more destructive actions that are happening behind the scenes,” he continued.
He gave no further details, only suggesting that the “consequences” of the attack would be felt “in the near future”. According to Demedyuk, UNC1151 has a “track record” of targeting multiple countries.
He claimed that the malicious software used in the attack was “very similar” to that used by ATP-29 – a group often referred to as “Cozy Bear.” The ATP-29, along with the “Fancy Bear” hacker, have been blamed by the American media for jeopardizing Democratic National Committee computers ahead of the 2016 US presidential election.
Read: Russia Arrests World’s Most Dangerous Ransomware Gang
Demedyuk added that the group’s “cyber espionage” tactics had been “linked to the Russian special services (Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation)”. Apparently, Demedyuk became the first Ukrainian official to publicly confirm that the attack was not carried out by a Russian group.
Earlier, another senior Ukrainian figure, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Alexey Danilov, alleged in an interview with Britain’s Sky News that he was “99.9% sure” Moscow was behind the hack.
Read: Accused by the US of preparing a fake flag operation, this is Russia’s response
When the cyberattack occurred, a number of government websites, including the foreign ministry and the education ministry, were uprooted. “Ukraine! All information about you has become public. Fear and hope for worse. This is your past, present and future,” reads a message written by hackers on the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry website as reported by The Guardian.
The message reproduces the Ukrainian flag and the crossed out map. It mentions the Ukrainian rebel army, or UPA, which fought against the Soviet Union during the second world war. There are also references to “historic lands”.
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