The vast majority of russian cyberattacks are currently focused on our country - in 2023 the SSU has already neutralized over 550 such threats. Illia Vitiuk, Chief of the SSU Cyber Security Department, briefed the audience about this during a national telethon.

Illia Vitiuk noted that Western partners understand that if Ukraine’s cyber defence were to fail, the enemy’s potential would be directed at them.

‘Whereas last year we repelled over 4,500 cyberattacks and critical cyber incidents, in the first month and a half of this year we have had 550 such attacks. This shows that russia continues to keep up the pace and scale. However, we were able to stop most of cyberattacks at initial stages,’ chief of Cyber Security Department underscored.

Major targets of enemy cyber attacks are Ukraine’s logistics, transportation and military facilities, energy sector as well as information resources and state registries.

According to Illia Vitiuk, russia has been attacking Ukraine since 2014. ‘However, our service has evolved much more than the russians. The very fact that most Ukrainian systems are operating normally is a clear proof that we are successfully dealing with the challenges, even in extremely difficult psychological conditions and with energy shortages,’ the SSU representative explained.

It should be noted that the support of international partners helps Ukraine to effectively fight against the enemy.

‘In this war, we not just repel russia’s attacks, but also effectively counterattack ourselves. An important objective is to obtain intelligence for our Armed Forces. But sometimes we also simply ‘kick them in the teeth’, responding to their cyber aggression symmetrically and even more powerfully,’ Ilia Vitiuk summarized.

Watch the full interview here.