Editor’s note: Ukraine’s Cyber Police had a busy year in 2022.
The law enforcement agency typically focuses its efforts on online fraud, scams, and other forms of financially-motivated cybercrime. But when Russia invaded Ukraine in February, the Cyber Police started seeing a surge in new types of attacks.
Yurii Vykhodets, who leads the department, said that he now spends much of his time trying to investigate and prevent cyberattacks targeting government institutions and critical infrastructure. Stopping Russian disinformation operations is also a priority. Last month, for example, the Cyber Police seized more than 100,000 SIM cards used to register bot accounts that spread pro-Russia narratives on various social media sites.
“The enemy constantly seeks to destabilize the situation in our country, including through massive attacks against information targets, banking institutions, and other social institutions,” Vykhodets said.
The conversation below was conducted in Ukrainian by Heorhii Hryshyn, an analyst team lead with Recorded Future’s Insikt Group, and was translated to English with the help of several analysts. The interview has been lightly edited for space and clarity.
The Record: What is the number one challenge you face right now?
Yurii Vykhodets: As with all Ukrainian police, the number one challenge that the Cyber Police Department faces is ensuring that the law is followed, even in a time of martial law. As part of our mandate, the Cyber Police…
