Ukraine’s military intel claims it shut down Russian Defense Ministry server

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukraine’s military intelligence claimed that it shut down a server of the Russian Defense Ministry in a cyberattack.

A statement by Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (HUR) late Tuesday said that the attack “disrupted” what it called the Russian Defense Ministry’s server “used for special communication.”

The HUR claimed that the information exchange between units of the Russian Defense Ministry stopped, which used a specified server located in Moscow.

“The software on the attacked server was approved by the FSB (Federal Security Service) of the Russian Federation as meeting state information protection standards,” it further said.

It also said that the software was installed at various “strategic facilities” of the Russian public sector, particularly military ones, adding that the cyberattack is “ongoing.”

Russian authorities have not yet commented on the cyberattack.

However, the Russian Coordination Center of .RU/RF domains, an organization responsible for ensuring internet development in Russia, announced a “technical problem” emerged knocking off many major internet sites in the country on the same day.

The organization said the malfunction occurred due to technical problems with the global infrastructure of the domain name system add-on designed to enhance security – Domain name system security extensions (DNSSEC).