Ukraine subjected to Russian cyberespionage campaign for war crimes evidence

Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office and other departments involved in war crimes documentation have been facing mounting cyberattacks from Russian state-sponsored threat operations looking to obtain evidence regarding such crimes, which is a sharp contrast from the previous targeting of energy facilities, Reuters reports. Intelligence is also being gathered by Russian hackers to help Russian nationals apprehended in Ukraine evade prosecution, according to a report from the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine, the country's cyber defense agency. "The groups we've identified as being engaged in this activity are part of Russia's GRU and FSB intelligence agencies," said SSCIP Head Yurii Shchyhol. No exact details regarding the targeted units were provided but the SSCIP discovered a 123% increase in cyber incidents against Ukraine during the first half of 2023, compared with the last six months of 2022. Such a report comes after the International Criminal Court, which has been investigating Russia's war crimes, was impacted by a cyberattack.