Ukrainian law enforcement officers sentenced in absentia two former officials of the Main Directorate of the Security Service (SBU) of Ukraine in Crimea, and now employees of the Russian FSB, to 15 years in prison for treason and illegal interference in the operation of computers and automated systems (Part 1 of Article 111, Part 2 of Article 361 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
This was reported in the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
Prosecutors proved in court that in 2014 the convicts betrayed their oath and during the armed conflict sided with the occupiers. They joined FSB and helped the Russian special services carry out subversive activities against Ukraine, and also joined the criminal hacker group “Armageddon”.
From March 2014 to March 2021, the hacker group carried out cyber intelligence and cyber attacks to create hidden technical channels of information leakage, collect confidential information, steal access identifiers and personal data, primarily of law enforcement officers and the military.
They also carried out cyber attacks to block the state and corporate electronic resources of Ukraine, carried out cyber influence actions in the interests of special and intelligence agencies of the Russian Federation.
From January 2020 to March 2021, the perpetrators, together with other “Armageddon” participants, carried out attacks on the critical information infrastructure of institutions that ensure the proper functioning of Ukraineʼs economic and law enforcement systems, as well as the countryʼs defense capabilities.
Convicts illegally interfered with the work of personal computers and servers of the state authorities of Ukraine. This led to the leakage and blocking of information, the distortion of the information processing process and the violation of the established order of its routing in the interests of the special services of the Russian Federation.
The courtʼs verdict became legally binding.
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