Right after the war started, the national cyber community launched an active counteroffensive on the cyber front and is forcing the enemy to spend substantial resources on its defence. Ilya Vitiuk, Chief of the SSU Cyber Security Department, talked about this in an interview for the We-Ukraine project.

‘Ukraine’s counteroffensive in cyberspace began on February 24. Earlier, our Department had repelled powerful cyber attacks that russia launched before the invasion to achieve a ‘blitzkrieg’ in all areas. We dealt with them in the morning, and in the evening we struck back. This forced the enemy to focus on the defence and understand that time of impunity had passed forever. Our counteroffensive is still in full swing,’ Ilya Vitiuk informed.

He stressed that the SSU acted proactively and had extensive experience of successful efforts on the cyber front. Thanks to this, it was possible not only to prevent undermining of Ukraine’s information and cyberspace, but also to prevent disruptions in the operation of critical infrastructure, life support systems, banks, etc.

‘The SSU has detected and neutralized over 3,500 cyberattacks this year. If it were not for our work, today we would be talking about not functioning traffic lights, not available communication networks, power outages, massive amount of stolen personal data, lost state secrets and research developments... But all critical systems are operating normally, and our society is united in the desire for Victory,’ Ilya Vitiuk explained.

The Chief of the SSU Cyber Security Department also said that ordinary Ukrainians and volunteers from the IT sphere were helping the special service in this fight.

The full version of the interview on what cyber threats the SSU is countering currently can be viewed here.