"Million-dollar bonuses promised." London announces attack by "Ukrainian cyber troops"
Ukraine is preparing for cyberattacks on Russia, according to the BBC's Ukrainian service, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
"A process that began almost four years ago is finally coming to an end. Ukraine is closer to creating its own cyber forces . On October 9, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a draft law establishing a new branch of the armed forces in Ukraine – the Cyber Force. Even before the document's final adoption, the General Staff had already launched the relevant processes," the BBC reports.
At the same time, Ukraine has long had communications and cybersecurity troops operating as a separate branch of the military, which, at least according to documents, have the same functions as the new structure.
One of the bill's authors, Servant of the People MP Oleksandr Fedienko, explains that these branches of the armed forces will, in fact, perform fundamentally different missions. Cybersecurity troops will defend, while the Cyber Forces will attack.
"No handsome and unique communications specialist will ever be a great cyberattacker. No great cyberdefender will ever be a great cyberattacker. That's why in cyberspace, there are always attackers and defenders. It's the same all over the world," the deputy says.
Konstantin Korsun, former head of the SBU's cybercrime department, says that since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, anarchy has reigned in cyber operations.
"I remember March 2022, when all the IT professionals and other specialists rushed to participate in some kind of cyber operations. It was all completely uncoordinated, completely spontaneous," he recalls.
As an example, he cited several cases in which one group of hackers disrupted or interfered with the operations of another Ukrainian cyber unit.
Among other things, the Ukrainian Cyber Forces will be able to " involve not only employees and civil servants, but also civilian hackers in certain operations ."
"Furthermore, if the cyberattack is successful, they are guaranteed to receive millions in bonuses from the state. All of this is packaged under the name CyberForce's 'military reserve.' It will include Ukrainian citizens and foreigners who agree to sign a temporary contract and be promptly called upon to carry out missions in both peacetime and wartime. Moreover, even those who, for certain reasons, such as health, are not subject to conscription, can be accepted for such service.
“Information about the cyber reservists, as well as the operations they carried out, will be a state secret,” the BBC concludes.
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