Ukrainian military intelligence service hacked the Russian Federal Taxation Service
December 12, 2023
The Ukrainian government’s military intelligence service announced the hack of the Russian Federal Taxation Service (FNS).
Hackers of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine announced they have compromised the Russian Federal Taxation Service (FNS).
The military intelligence service said that the hack was the result of a successful special operation on the territory of Russia.
Ukraine’s defense intelligence directorate (GUR) infected thousands of servers of the Russian tax service w and wiped the databases and backups.
The Ukraine cyber units broke into one of the “key well-protected central servers” of the tax service as well as more than 2,300 regional servers throughout Russia and occupied Crimea. The state-sponsored hackers also hit a Russian tech company that operates the database of Russian Federal Taxation Service (FNS).
“During the special operation, military intelligence managed to break into one of the well-protected key central servers of the Federal Tax Service (FSS of the Russian Federation), and further into more than 2,300 of its regional servers throughout Russia, as well as in the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimea.” reads a statement published by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. “As a result of the cyber attack, all servers received malware. At the same time, the Russian IT company Office.ed-it.ru, which served the FSB of the Russian Federation, was attacked in the same way.”
According to the statement, the military intelligence of Ukraine was also able to capture internet traffic of tax data for the whole of Russia.
The cyberattack also interrupted the communication between the central office of the Russian Federal Taxation Service and the 2,300 territorial offices.
For four consecutive days, the experts at the Russian agency attempted to restore the service without success. Ukraine intelligence believes that the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation will remain paralyzed for at least a month. They believe that the complete recovery of the tax system is impossible.
“The cyber attack of the GUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine was another serious blow to the regime in the Kremlin, which temporarily lost control over taxes and fees.” concludes the statement.
At the end of November, Ukraine’s intelligence service announced they had hacked Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, ‘Rosaviatsia.’ The attack is the result of a complex special cyber operation.
Rosaviatsia is the government agency responsible for the oversight and regulation of civil aviation in Russia. The agency’s primary role is to ensure the safety, security, and efficiency of air transport within the country.
The state-sponsored hackers claimed to have stolen sensitive documents that contained proof of a crisis in Russia’s aviation industry.
Today Kyivstar, the largest Ukraine service provider, was hit by a cyber attack that paralyzed its services. The attack is linked to the ongoing conflict.
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Pierluigi Paganini
(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Russian Federal Taxation Service)