Ukraine postal service hit with cyberattack after issuing commemorative war stamps

Ukrainian officials on Friday said the country’s postal service was targeted by a cyberattack following the sale of stamps portraying a Ukrainian soldier giving the middle finger to a Russian warship, according to Reuters.

The stamps went on sale last week following the sinking of Russia’s Moskva cruiser. The warship, which was the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, sank last week after it caught on fire. 

Ukrainian forces claimed to have struck the ship with two Neptune missiles which created the explosion and caused significant damage.

Ihor Smilianskyi, the director general of Ukraine’s postal service, apologized on Facebook to customers, explaining that disruption of service was due to a DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attack. Smilianskyi did not identify the perpetrators behind the attack.

“We are really doing everything, together with internet providers, to restore both the online store and other Ukrposhta systems that are also temporarily not working due to a DDoS attack on our systems,” Smilianskyi wrote on Facebook.

Since the invasion, Ukraine has been the target of numerous cyberattacks that have disrupted its critical infrastructure and government websites.

Last week, Ukraine said it successfully thwarted a cyberattack launched by Russian-backed hackers intended to disrupt the country’s power grid.

Ukrainian officials said the hackers behind the attack are affiliated with the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency.

The recent attacks on Ukraine have prompted U.S. federal agencies and their foreign counterparts to issue a joint advisory on Wednesday about how Russia could potentially target critical infrastructure that could affect “organizations both within and beyond Ukraine.”

The government agencies have been urging companies in critical infrastructure to shore up their cyber defenses amid growing Russian cyber threats.