Disruption and fake messaging
On Nov. 4, a cyberattack hit the Kyiv Independent, disrupting the website and sending fake emails to readers. The hackers sent four emails and posted similar messages on the website, which the Kyiv Independent staff deleted immediately. Editor-in-chief Olga Rudenko said, "This is the first time an attack like this has happened to us, and we are treating it very seriously." These messages contained fake claims regarding a physical attack on President Volodymyr Zelensky. The first email, sent at 1 a.m. Kyiv time, claimed "Zelensky launched a nuclear warhead at Kyiv" as "proof of friendship" after meeting with Putin, and it included a Telegram username for a channel that featured mocking messages and threats in Russian about attacking Ukrainians. While most readers live in English-speaking countries like the U.S., the U.K., Canada, and Australia, a small minority in Ukraine received the Russian-language warnings. At 2:30 p.m. local time, a second Russian email arrived, followed by an English message at 3:05 p.m. Olga Rudenko also said, "Attacks like these are part of the war we cover every day: an attempt to sow confusion and erode trust."
Previous air raid alert hack
This attack follows a hack of the Ukrainian air raid alert app that occurred three days earlier. On Nov. 2, President Volodymyr Zelensky told PBS News that Russians conduct cyberattacks on banking systems and pensions to create chaos. The air raid alert app, which was developed in collaboration between the Digital Transformation Ministry and security technology company Ajax Systems, sent false warnings about nuclear, chemical, and street fighting threats to users’ phones. One false warning in Russian stated: "Hi! A nuclear alert is about to go off all across Ukraine! Don’t worry, the Oreshnik (missile) is on its way." These alerts were cleared about an hour after they were sent. "Of course, they want each day to make chaos in Ukraine, in all our cities," Zelensky said. Because the Kyiv Independent handles payments through secure third-party systems, the bank details of members and donors are not at risk. Zakhar Protsiuk, the chief operating officer, said the team works with cybersecurity specialists to protect platforms from future attacks.
