CyberBerkut (russian: КиберБеркут, uk, КіберБеркут) is a modern organized group of pro-Russian hacktivists.Inside a pro-Russia propaganda machine in Ukraine
BBC News (13 November 2017) The group became locally known for a series of publicity stunts and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on Ukrainian government, and western or Ukrainian corporate websites. By 2018, this group was accused by western intelligence agencies, such as National Cyber Security Centre (United Kingdom) of being linked to the GRU, providing plausible deniability.

Background

The group emerged after the dissolution of special police force "Berkut" that became notorious for its violent repression used during the

EuroMaidan Euromaidan (; uk, Євромайдан, translit=Yevromaidan, lit=Euro Square, ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protes ...

demonstrations. The group is anonymous. Their proclaimed goals are fighting against neo-fascism,

neo-nationalism Neo-nationalism, or new nationalism, is an ideology and political movement built on the basic characteristics of classical nationalism. It developed to its final form by applying elements with reactionary character generated as a reaction to th ...

and

arbitrary power Autocracy is a system of government in which absolute power over a state is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject neither to external legal restraints nor to regularized mechanisms of popular control (except perh ...

in Ukraine. To further this aim, CyberBerkut activists targeted the " Right Sector" IT resources. CyberBerkut targets included NATO and its allies.

Activity

* Attacks on NATO websites. * Attacks on U.S. private military companies. * Publication of correspondence of deputies of (political parties) Batkivshchyna and Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform. * Publication of correspondence with the United States Embassy in Ukraine and United States

foundations Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

. * Disclosure to public of telephone recording between Yulia Tymoshenko and Nestor Shufrych. * Disclosure to public of telephone recording between EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs

Catherine Ashton Catherine Margaret Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland, (born 20 March 1956), is a British Labour politician who served as the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and First Vice President of the Europea ...

and

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

of Estonia Urmas Paet. * Blocking cellular phones of members of the Yatsenyuk Government and persons close to them. * Blocking Internet resources of Secretary of the

National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC; uk, Рада національної безпеки і оборони України, RNBO or RNBOU) is the coordinating state body of the executive power under the President of Ukrai ...

Andriy Parubiy Andriy Volodymyrovych Parubiy ( uk, Андрій Володимирович Парубій; born 31 January 1971) is a Ukrainian politician

and news portals: LigaBusinessInform and Ukrainian Independent Information Agency. * Publication of video materials that are blocked on YouTube. * Attempts at disrupting the recruitment of the National Guard of Ukraine. * Attempted destruction of the electronic system of the

Central Election Commission of Ukraine The Central Election Commission of Ukraine ( uk, Центральна виборча комісія України, commonly abbreviated in Ukrainian as ЦВК (''Tse-Ve-Ka''); sometimes referred to as the Central Electoral Commission of Ukrai ...

prior to the

2014 Ukrainian presidential election Snap presidential elections held in Ukraine on 25 May 2014 resulted in Petro Poroshenko being elected President of Ukraine.Central Election Commission of Ukraine The Central Election Commission of Ukraine ( uk, Центральна виборча комісія України, commonly abbreviated in Ukrainian as ЦВК (''Tse-Ve-Ka''); sometimes referred to as the Central Electoral Commission of Ukrai ...

by damaging the IFES system before the elections and blocking cellphones of their organisators. * Temporary disruption of the websites of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the General Prosecutor of Ukraine. Websites of TV channels

1+1 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

and Inter were also temporary disrupted . * Email hacking and publication of the conversation between Ihor Kolomoyskyi and the persecutor of the Lviv Oblast, hacking of the computer and email of a person related to Ihor Kolomoyskiy. Archives of the contents of 89 email accounts of Lviv oblast's prosecutor office employees. * Hacking and publishing of the Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov's conversation. * Blocking of the website of the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko on 29 June 2014. * Publication of the real name and biography of Semen Semenchenko – Konstantin Grishin. *Hacking of the German Chancellery and the German Bundestag The group also publishes pro-

Donetsk People's Republic The Donetsk People's Republic ( rus, Донецкая Народная Республика, Donetskaya Narodnaya Respublika, dɐˈnʲetskəjə nɐˈrodnəjə rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə; abbreviated as DPR or DNR, rus, ДНР) is a Territorial ...

videos. In one of them it is claimed that Ukrainian security forces are living under a " Jewish occupation".

Response

* Repeated blocking of CB's Facebook pages, although new ones have been made on the following day . * Likely in response to attacking the websites of Greystone Limited and Triple Canopy, CyberBerkut's websites have been temporarily disrupted. The websites started to work again on the following day. * Arrests of people suspected in relation to CyberBerkut.

Notes

References

External links