Cybersecurity experts from the Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine have claimed to have launched a successful cyberattack on the Russian IPL consulting company, destroying all of the company's IT infrastructure and causing a nationwide disruption of communications.
In a Facebook announcement, Ukrainian hur said IPL consulting is one of the most advanced companies in Russia that provides information systems implementation services, including institutions in the automotive, aviation, heavy machinery and defense industries. Ukraine's HUR reported that HUR's experts launched attacks against dozens of the company's servers and databases.
Hackers hacked IPL Consulting's internal network, deleting more than 60TB of data and compromising dozens of servers and databases. At the moment, the amount of the company's losses is not clear. According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, in view of the ongoing sanctions pressure, numerous Russian companies operating in the defense sector have been affected, and the losses are particularly serious.
Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, cyberattacks have become a common tactic in the Russia-Ukraine war. On December 12, 2023, the pro-Russian hacker "Solntsepek" launched an attack on the telecommunications company Kyivstar, resulting in a loss of communications. Recently, Ukrainian cyber specialists have also behaved quite aggressively on the digital front.
In a stand-alone attack, the Ukrainian hacker group "Blackjack" invaded the Special Projects Department of the Main Russian Main Directorate of Military Construction, **12TB of data, which includes technical documentation for more than 500 military sites. The organization also transmitted key intelligence about Russian facilities to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and temporarily interrupted the operations of the Department of Special Projects. On January 19, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine confirmed the truth of the information on its Telegram channel.
On January 24, a cyberattack on Planeta, Russia's Far East Space Hydrometeorological Research Center in Khabarovsk, resulted in the destruction of 280 servers and the loss of 2 petabytes (2 million gigabytes) worth at least $10 million in data. Planeta is responsible for receiving and processing military satellite data, and the attack is believed to have been launched by volunteers in the BO Team organization.
According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the hackers also managed to compromise meteorological and satellite data from several agencies, including the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Ministry of Defense, and the Russian Space Corporation. The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine noted that the supercomputer, worth more than $350,000, could not be repaired and that Russia did not have access to the software due to Western sanctions against Russia.
In addition, the hacker group interfered with air conditioning, humidification systems, and emergency power supply rules, resulting in the loss of contact with a Russian site located in the Arctic, which affected strategic businesses vital to national defense, as well as operations in support of the Russian occupation forces.
Prior to the destruction of the Russian server, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine had collected $1.5 billion worth of classified intelligence data totaling 100 gigabytes belonging to LLC "Special Technology Center" operating in the Russian military-industrial complex.