Prime Minister of Ukraine Serhiy Koretskyi has instructed the heads of central executive authorities to urgently strengthen the cybersecurity of state information systems. Institutions must staff up with relevant specialists, allocate funding, and ensure the purchase and deployment of necessary protection measures.

The head of government announced this on October 23 on his Telegram channel.

According to Koretskyi, Russia has intensified both physical strikes on Ukraine's digital infrastructure and cyberattacks on state institutions and enterprises.

In September alone, according to the prime minister, about ten data centers in Kyiv were damaged. Another major facility was hit a few days ago.

The head of government noted that the latest of these data centers provided connectivity to approximately 90 settlements. He assured that the damaged infrastructure would be restored.

Earlier, on October 19, it became known that a data center of the telecom operator "Datagroup" in Kyiv was destroyed. The company reported that after a Russian ballistic missile strike, the equipment and infrastructure of the facility were completely disabled, and its further operation is impossible.

At the same time, the operator continued to provide services to customers from backup sites. "Datagroup" provides telecommunications services to users in more than 90 settlements of Ukraine.

State agencies must create cybersecurity teams

Koretskyi emphasized that Russian hackers are increasingly using artificial intelligence technologies to conduct attacks. Among the main targets, he named state information systems and Ukrainian business.

Against this background, the prime minister gave the heads of central executive authorities the following instructions:

  • urgently staff up with cybersecurity specialists;
  • provide funding for cyber defense measures;
  • purchase necessary equipment, protection tools, and software;
  • put the acquired systems into operation.

According to the prime minister, key state agencies responsible for digital infrastructure are already able to counter cyberattacks using artificial intelligence. Now other state institutions must ensure a similar level of readiness.

At the same time, Koretskyi did not name specific deadlines for the implementation of the instruction, the number of new cybersecurity teams, or additional amounts that individual agencies will have to spend.

Over half a billion hryvnias already allocated for protection of digital systems

The prime minister reminded that the state has already allocated over 500 million UAH to strengthen the protection of digital infrastructure. According to him, this is only the initial stage of the relevant work.

As reported by "Kurs Ukrainy" on September 29, the Cabinet of Ministers allocated 518.3 million UAH from the reserve fund to increase the resilience of state information systems.

The funds are intended for the creation of geographically separated backup sites, development of cloud infrastructure, purchase of server equipment, software, and data backup systems.

Such measures should ensure the continuity of government electronic services or accelerate their recovery in case of damage to the main infrastructure.

Koretskyi's new instruction extends protection measures to all central executive authorities. It involves not only preserving information and backing up servers, but also having trained specialists and effective systems to counter cyberattacks in every agency.

Source: Serhiy Koretskyi