Ukrainian coders divide their time between their day jobs and the cyber war with Russia.
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More than 311,000 people have joined a group called “IT Army of Ukraine” on the social networking platform Telegram, which targets Russian companies/organizations. While not all of them are from Ukraine, a significant number of them are, according to group members who spoke to CNBC.
Dave, a Ukrainian software engineerwho preferred to withhold his last name due to the nature of his comments, told CNBC that the group has helped carry out multiple cyberattacks outside of their daily operations since the war began. He said the targets include Russian government websites, Russian banks and currency exchanges.
Whenever a list of targets is shared on the Telegram channel, Dave says he simply pastes them into a bot, which took about an hour to create.
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When asked how successful the attacks were, he said it was difficult to say since the attacks are carried out by thousands of people at the same time. "The combined actions are definitely successful," he said.
Dave is one of about 30 Ukrainians working remotely for a U.S. technology consulting firm. The company has made the work “completely optional” for its Ukrainian employees.
Oleksii, head of the quality assurance team for a software company in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, told CNBC that he and his colleagues are doing everything they can to keep working and keep the economy running. But it's not easy.
Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Oleksii said he has not worked (on average) more than two hours a day. “In times like these, it’s hard to prioritize professional work,” he said.
In addition to his regular job, Oleksii is trying to help Ukraine win the cyberwar. “As an IT worker, I hope I can serve my country on the digital front line, as this war is also being fought in the digital world,” he said. “On a daily basis, I help reach out to various European and American websites and ask them to stop cooperating with Russia, posting on social networks, etc.”
Gazprom and Sberbank in the spotlight
Another developer named Anton said he personally participated in a DDoS attack on Russian oil giant Gazprom, as well as others against the Russian bank Sberbank and the government.
Meanwhile, Nikita, CEO and co-founder of a cybersecurity company, told CNBC that he is on the Telegram channel of the Ukrainian Information Army. His company works for clients around the world, and its staff continued to work throughout the Russian invasion. They do “penetration testing” and check IT systems for vulnerabilities.
Nikita told CNBC that he was trying to tell Russian citizens, through messaging services, what was really happening in Ukraine amid Moscow’s tight media controls. He said he and his hacking group were also publishing Russian credit card details online. “I’m publishing about 110,000 credit cards on Telegram channels,” he said, adding that he wanted to cause economic damage to Russia.
“We want them to go to the Stone Age and we are very good at it,” Nikita said, adding that they are now targeting Russian gas stations with a cyberattack. However, he stressed that he does not hate all Russians and is grateful to Russians who are helping Ukraine.
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Ukraine's Minister of Digital Services Mykhailo Fedorov last month urged people to join the channel, saying that Ukraine continues to fight on the cyber front.
Yehor, another technology expert working for an international cybersecurity company remotely from Ukraine, is also participating in the cyberwar.
"I try to devote equal time to work and cyberattacking. Unfortunately, my family is not with me, so I have more free time than usual," he added.
Information source: cnbc.com
