A group of Ukrainian hackers has pulled off a major cyber heist against Russia, stealing and deleting classified data on hundreds of Russian military sites, according to Ukraine’s military intelligence.
The hackers, known as “Blackjack”, are believed to be affiliated with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the country’s main spy agency. They targeted a Russian state enterprise that was responsible for building military facilities for President Vladimir Putin’s armed forces.
Blackjack managed to access more than 1.2 terabytes of sensitive information, including the maps of over 500 Russian military bases in Russia and in the occupied regions of Ukraine. The data revealed the locations and details of Russian army headquarters, air-defense systems, and weapons depots.
The hackers not only transferred the data to the Ukrainian security and defense forces, but also wiped it out from seven Russian servers, effectively destroying the original copies. They also disabled 150 computers, causing further disruption.
The cyber attack was announced by the GUR, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, on its website on Friday. The GUR said the operation was a “powerful blow” to Russia’s military capabilities and a “significant contribution” to Ukraine’s national security.
The Russian Ministry of Defense has not commented on the incident yet. Newsweek has reached out to the ministry for a response by email.
