Just a couple of days after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, Ukrainian deputy prime minister and the minister for digital transformation Mykhailov Federov appealed to Ukrainians worldwide, professionals and amateurs alike, to join a nascent cyber army: “We have a lot of talented Ukrainians in the digital sphere – developers, cyber specialists, designers, copywriters, marketers. We continue to fight on the cyber front.
A deepfake video of President Zelenskyy calling on Ukrainians to lay down their arms has been one of the many disseminations of false government announcements into hacked news feeds and trolled social media channels. A year ago our own HSE was subject to a ransom attack, from which data was painfully recovered. The cyber-attacks in Ukraine since February often instead intend to permanently destroy data.
The cyber war could clearly escalate to lasting and permanent damage to key infrastructure such as power, water, transport and health systems, as well as to central government and military installations. Unofficial actions by citizen activists, not sanctioned by national administrations, could dangerously prompt retaliatory infrastructure attacks in those countries perceived to be assisting Ukraine.The Ukrainian citizen IT army goes beyond hacking internet systems.
Russia naturally has its own military-grade drones. The Russian Orlan-10 has been extensively proven in Syria. However, a captured Orlan has been recently disassembled by the Ukrainians. For a no doubt expensive military system, it is surprisingly hobbyist in its manufacture. Velcro strips hold down parts, including both a plastic bottle for holding fuel and an off-the-shelf DSLR from a well-known global consumer brand as its camera.
Its time for the IRISH people again to stand and fight for not just land taken away back. but for Irish independence. Irish doesn't wear a crown.