Security Service of Ukraine
The department uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) visual recognition systems to analyze information gathered from aerial drones (alongside intelligence from human sources, satellites and other technical sources) to provide targets for the military. - His teams will also hack into surveillance cameras on occupied territory to watch Russian troop movements.
- And they direct kamikaze drones to take out Russian cameras spying on Ukrainian movements.
- Doing this often requires teams working undercover, close to the target.
Drones - sometimes used for surveillance and sometimes to act as weapons - have been at the leading edge of innovation in this conflict.
The cyber-conflict was tightly bound with military operations even before the full-scale invasion of February 2022. A month earlier Russia tried to cause public panic by taking public websites offline.
"It was definitely a psychological operation," says Mr Vitiuk. Ukraine was able to recover most of the systems but hours before the invasion a new wave of cyber-attacks began. The most effective took down a US satellite provider used by Ukraine's military for communications for a few hours.
As Russia's plans for a quick victory were dashed and reports of atrocities emerged, the importance of controlling the information flow increased. That was highlighted on 1 March 2022 when a combined cyber and missile strike targeted a TV tower in Kyiv.
"They were trying to deprive Ukrainians of access to truthful information," Yurii Shchyhol, head of the state service that protects communications, explains, standing in front of the tower where black scars from the missile strike are still evident. Engineers scoured the city for replacement equipment and within hours, TV broadcasting was restored.
"It was definitely a psychological operation," says Mr Vitiuk. Ukraine was able to recover most of the systems but hours before the invasion a new wave of cyber-attacks began. The most effective took down a US satellite provider used by Ukraine's military for communications for a few hours.
As Russia's plans for a quick victory were dashed and reports of atrocities emerged, the importance of controlling the information flow increased. That was highlighted on 1 March 2022 when a combined cyber and missile strike targeted a TV tower in Kyiv.
"They were trying to deprive Ukrainians of access to truthful information," Yurii Shchyhol, head of the state service that protects communications, explains, standing in front of the tower where black scars from the missile strike are still evident. Engineers scoured the city for replacement equipment and within hours, TV broadcasting was restored.
Missiles also struck a data centre at the same location - but vital data had been moved on to remote servers earlier in the year, with help from Western technology companies.
"The fact that Ukraine managed to withstand this war is the achievement of both our specialists who built the system and thanks to the help from our partners," says Mr Shchyhol.
Ukraine's own tech workers have also aided the war effort. In a cramped Kyiv office, young volunteers explain how they built a system called Griselda that scrapes data from social media and other sources to provide up-to-date situational intelligence. This helps the military and government answer questions on everything from where mines might be laid to what infrastructure requires repairing.
The missiles that hit the TV tower and data centre were also accompanied by cyber-attacks. And since then, cyber and missile attacks have often been used in tandem.
"The fact that Ukraine managed to withstand this war is the achievement of both our specialists who built the system and thanks to the help from our partners," says Mr Shchyhol.
Ukraine's own tech workers have also aided the war effort. In a cramped Kyiv office, young volunteers explain how they built a system called Griselda that scrapes data from social media and other sources to provide up-to-date situational intelligence. This helps the military and government answer questions on everything from where mines might be laid to what infrastructure requires repairing.
The missiles that hit the TV tower and data centre were also accompanied by cyber-attacks. And since then, cyber and missile attacks have often been used in tandem.
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