Ukraine Says Russia Is Responsible For Last Week’s Attacks And That It Made It Look Like A Ransomware

Ukraine says last week’s Petya ransomware attack was more of a cyber-attack in disguise by Russia even though Russian companies were affected too. Ukraine’s security service, the SBU says it has obtained and analysed data that shows that the attack which originated in Russia was indeed an attack on its nation but the unclear part is why Russia would do that and hit its own computers too. Well maybe it’s a way to deflect any suspicions even though cyber security experts think it may not be Russia based on the fact that its companies were hit too. So it’s not as there’s proof supporting their claims at this moment.

It would be interesting though to see what Ukraine has on this because it says the malware wasn’t designed to actually collect ransom but to attack Ukrainian interests. They confirmed that the ransom was indeed a cover-up by Russia to further destabilise its polity. Now it’s important to note that Russia and Ukraine have been involved in a conflict after the ousting of its former President and since the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014.

While last week’s attack may have hit some corporations in the West, it appears though as if Ukraine may have been the worst hit. Over 150 Ukrainian firms have filed complaints with the police and this won’t be the first time. In December, Ukraine’s transport, financial and energy sectors were attacked in another suspected Russian attack and maybe since NATO has increased its military presence close to the Ukrainian border and with Russia under heavy economic sanctions, maybe an “untraceable” cyber-attack would be the way to go right now.

But if Russia is behind this according to Ukraine, maybe there were behind the widespread WannaCry ransomware last month but a lot of experts have pointed fingers at North Korea for that instead.