Intelligence collected by cyber methods helps SSU conduct unique special operations - Illia Vitiuk

Intelligence gathered by the SSU using cyber methods helps to conduct unique special operations.

IIlia Vitiuk, Head of the SSU Cyber Security Department, spoke about this at Kyiv International Forum on Cyber Security Resilience in Cyber Warfare.

‘We are proactive: we penetrate deep into enemy systems. Our main objective is to obtain important intelligence, which is then used in the SSU’s top special operations. These include elimination of war criminals, destruction of military facilities and infrastructure working for russia’s military-industrial complex and so on. Many of the SSU’s special operations today include a cyber component,’ Illia Vitiuk explained.

The collected intelligence is also shared with the Defence Forces or international partners, for example, when it comes to attempts to evade sanctions. In this way, the SSU prevents russia from establishing new supply chains to continue its war against Ukraine.

Illia Vitiuk noted that the Cyber Security Department takes a flexible approach to countering cyber threats, as their number has tripled during the full-scale war. Over the past 2 years, the SSU has neutralized almost 10,000 cyberattacks.

‘This is the result of a combination of operational and technical actions and cooperation with international partners,’ he said.

The cyber security chief also emphasizes that cyberwarfare is a separate dimension of russia’s current military aggression against Ukraine, and cyberattacks on civilian critical infrastructure should be considered war crimes.

‘I urge our partners to keep this in focus. We need to find new mechanisms of proving such crimes. This will make it possible to bring russian cybercriminals to international justice, especially those working for the intelligence services. Every state hacker there should be aware that sooner or later they will face international criminal liability,’ Illia Vitiuk underscored.