A Ukrainian government cyber unit has breached Tupolev, Russia’s aviation giant and developer of strategic bombers for the Russian Air Force.
The hack by the unit, part of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR), netted more than 4.4 gigabytes of highly classified material, including personal information of Tupolev staff and, more importantly, protocols from closed-door meetings and internal comms between company executives.
"There is now virtually nothing secret left in Tupolev’s operations as far as Ukrainian intelligence is concerned,” a source told the Kyiv Post. "The effects of this operation will be felt both on the ground and in the skies.”
This breach had taken place over an extended period, during which time HUR’s cyber division silently track Tupolev's internal flow of documents and information. HUR was not only able to observe current activities but also gather information "that could be used in future pinpoint operations against Russia’s defence-industrial complex."
While it can be guaranteed that Russia has been leading cyber attacks on Ukraine's military, HUR has been doing the same and this wasn't the first cyber operation against the Russian military. In recent months it has successfully breached other databases, including military logistics, strategic aviation and weapons production.
As a parting gesture, HUR hacked Tupolev's website and left on its homepage an image of an owl grasping a Russian jet in its talons.
