The SSU cyber units jointly with the State Bureau of Investigations and the Prosecutor General’s Office have collected evidence on two traitors who helped russia in the war against Ukraine.

The suspects are two former officers of the SSU Directorate in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, who in 2014 defected to the enemy and joined the FSB.

There, they became part of the Armageddon hacker group controlled by the russian special service.

The investigation established that from January 1, 2020, to March 10, 2021, this group had carried out a series of large-scale cyberattacks on Ukrainian government agencies.

During one of the cyber incidents, the FSB tried to gain access to classified data of Ukraine’s highest state authorities.

However, due to the SSU’s prompt response, the consequences of the attacks were neutralized and the enemy’s attempt to penetrate government information resources was prevented.

As a result of a complex investigation, the law enforcement established the involvement of both traitors in the aggressor’s sabotage activities.

In 2021, the SSU Cyber Security Department conducted an unprecedented operation and identified the attackers by names, intercepted their conversations, and obtained irrefutable evidence of their involvement in cyberattacks on Ukraine. The SSU was able to do that despite the fact that they used the FSB’s own malware, as well as methods of anonymization and ‘cover’ in the Internet.

Then, 8 hackers were identified at once, 5 of whom were immediately declared suspects.

The law enforcement agencies have now completed the investigation against two of them.

They are charged under two Articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:

• 111.1 (high treason);
• 361.2 (unauthorized interference with electronic computers and automated systems).

The suspects are facing up to 15 years in prison.

Investigations are ongoing in relation to other persons involved in the attacks. The agencies are acting to bring them to justice.

The SSU conducted the special pre-trial investigation jointly with the SBI’s Main Investigation Department under the supervision of the Prosecutor General’s Office.