The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) established and dismantled the webcams broadcasting the work of air defense and the locations of Kyiv's critical infrastructure during the air attack of Russia on January 2. It was two robotic online surveillance cameras that were hacked by Russian intelligence services to spy on the Defense Forces in the capital.
Russian hackers hacked webcams in Kyiv to "lit up" the air defense work
According to SSU cyber specialists, one of the devices was located on the balcony of an apartment building and was used by a local condominium to monitor the surrounding area.
The SSU press service reported this on Facebook.
However, due to hacking, the aggressor gained remote access to control this webcam. Having penetrated her settings, the special services of the Russian Federation changed the viewing angle and connected her to the YouTube streaming platform.
In this way, the occupiers covertly recorded all visual information in the range of the camera.
Another external surveillance device is blocked in one of the residential complexes of Kyiv. Residents used it to monitor the parking lot.
SSU Cyber specialists established that this webcam was remotely controlled by the enemy for covert recording of the surrounding territory, including critical infrastructure facilities.
According to available information, with the help of these cameras, the aggressor collected data for preparing and adjusting strikes on Kyiv.
According to all the facts, comprehensive measures are underway to neutralize the enemy's new attempts to conduct surveillance and subversive activities through online cameras.
In general, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, SBU cyber specialists have blocked the operation of about 10,000 IR cameras, which the enemy could use to adjust missile attacks on Ukraine.
The SSU calls on the owners of street webcams to stop online broadcasts from their devices and citizens to report detected streams from such cameras to the official SSU Chatbot.
SSU also reminds of the ban on the filming and publishing of video and photo materials regarding the activities of the Defense Forces, as well as the consequences of enemy shelling.
The publication of such photo and video materials on the Internet is considered the correction of enemy fire and is a crime punishable by law. The sanction of Article 114-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine provides punishment for such a crime in the form of a prison term of up to 12 years.
What is known about the consequences of the SSU hackers' attack on the infrastructure of Rosvodokanal
It is noted that "Rosvodokanal" is the largest Russian private company that provides water supply services to 7 million consumers.
According to SSU representatives, the cyber attack on the IT infrastructure of "Rosvodokanal" was carried out by hackers from the Blackjack group with the support of cyber specialists of the Security Service.
Currently, the work of "Rosvodokanal" has turned out to be blocked.
In addition, due to the attack, Ukrainian hackers encrypted more than 6,000 computers and deleted more than 50 TB of data.
It is related to internal document management, corporate mail, cyber protection services, and backups.
According to sources, the SBU is already analyzing 1.5 TB of downloaded Rosvodokanal data.
