IT Army is an effective and successful Ukrainian startup

The experience of Ukrainian "IT warriors" will be studied globally!

Ukraine has already entered modern world history – forever and ever. It is Ukraine, not russia, which has waged this bloody war, that is now an example of courage, resilience, steadfastness of spirit, unity, patriotism, and ingenuity. A tractor pulling an enemy tank, "specially trained" geese returning home from the warmer regions and "bringing down" enemy planes, Roma people stealing russian tanks and armored personnel carriers – at first glance, all of the above may be funny stories for memes. However, they also show that Ukrainians defend what’s theirs on ALL fronts. And the "IT front" is no exception.

How did the Ukrainian IT front come about?

Situational, as a defensive reaction to the cyberattacks of Russian hackers, who, in 2014, due to the Revolution of Dignity and the change of political regime in Ukraine, began attacking some websites of state companies, political parties, NGOs. It was also then that the first mass throwings of informational garbage, rumors, and fakes by russia into popular social networks to rattle the situation and misinform the population were recorded.

At the time, the IT front was just emerging as a result of forced cybersecurity. After that, more severe cyber-attacks followed: the destruction of the systems of government agencies of Ukraine by numerous DDoS attacks, computer viruses Snake/Uroborus/Turla, NotPetya, and others.

In 2015, russia launched the world's first confirmed and, unfortunately, successful attack on the Ukrainian energy system: russians used the Trojan program BlackEnergy to attack computer control systems in Prykarpattiaoblenergo: about 30 substations were shut down, about 230,000 residents were left without light for several hours. Chernivtsioblenerho and Kyivoblenerho also suffered simultaneous attacks. It was then that the need for a weighty cyber defense of Ukraine became apparent.

The day of February 24, 2022, changed the lives of tens of millions of people forever. And not only in Ukraine but all over the world. Because putin's aggression is a purposeful weapon of a "long-term defeat" that will hit the economy and welfare of all countries, with no exception.

On February 26, 2022, the Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov officially announced the setting up of the IT Army. This date is the official "birthday".

The phenomenon of the Ukrainian IT Army

1. In just one day (!) more than 118,000 volunteers joined the IT troops (as of February 27, 2022).
2. No commitments or rewards – everything is purely voluntary.
3. There is no state accounting and control over those who join the ranks of the IT Army. Everyone does it at their discretion and devotes as much time as they can.
4. Organization and coordination of actions – through a Telegram channel. It sets out the daily tasks to be performed. The tasks are not difficult, nearly every PC user with no special IT education can cope with them.
5. It turned out that a computer, tablet, or even a smartphone during the war can also become an effective weapon.

The first victories of the Ukrainian IT Army

During the first days of the war, the Ukrainian IT Army brought down dozens of russian websites, including government portals, banks, the State Service website, and propaganda media.

On February 24, the development of Systematics, an automated Election system through which putin rigged the election, was disabled. The electronic document management systems of the occupation authorities in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the so-called DPR and LPR were also shut down. On February 25, the management system of the Federal Treasury of the russian federation together with backups was destroyed. On February 28, Ukrainian IT specialists shut down the website of the Moscow Stock Exchange. Sberbank and BestChange followed suit. The websites of the FSB, roskomnadzor, the president of the russian federation, the government of the russian federation, the state duma, the federation council, and many others have collapsed.

The russian authorities are still concealing all the results of the attack and the very fact of cyberattacks by Ukraine so as not to destroy the myth of "invincibility" of the russian army.

Additional working areas of the IT troops

In addition to repelling russian cyber-attacks and retaliatory cyber-attacks, Ukrainian IT specialists are also developing important web and mobile applications that help refugees and volunteers survive and adapt to new living conditions.

Not limited by any physical borders, IT warriors demand the blocking of russian projects, call on global companies and corporations to boycott the market of aggressors and not to sponsor murderers, tell the world the truth about russia's bloody crimes in Ukraine.

Not only Ukrainian specialists but also a large number of people from other countries join the volunteer movement in the IT Army. Special mention should be made of the participation of the hacker association Anonymous, which significantly helps to fight the aggressor. Ukrainian songs on russian TV channels, blocking of bank accounts and websites, phone calls to russian families intended to stop them from sending russian youth to war, inscriptions "putin – hu#lo" and "Glory to Ukraine" at gas stations terminals' displays are their contribution to the fight against russian aggression.

This is the world's First cyber-front

Before our eyes, in the 21st century, there is a war on all possible fronts; the war in which putin has already drawn the whole world. The whole civilization, in one way or another, resists tyranny, dictatorship, and morbid russian misanthropy and genocide. For the first time in the history of mankind, a cyber front is involved in this war, and it has the scale of not one particular organization or figure but the whole country.

The current cyberwar, in fact, has no rules, deadlines, or clear structure, because it is the first and forced. But its uniqueness is that it is on the side of people and truth, it protects and saves lives, it is against aggression and blood, it is a voluntary commitment, and therefore – effective and efficient.

Glory to Ukraine! Glory to heroes!