According to research by several international media, Russia has prepared large-scale cyber attacks with the help of private software companies. Confidential documents are said to show that the Moscow IT company NTC Vulkan developed tools with which state hackers could plan cyber attacks, filter Internet traffic and spread mass propaganda and disinformation, like the research group, including the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, “Der Spiegel ” and the ZDF, reported.
Training documents reportedly identify possible targets for attacks, including “disabling control systems of rail, air and sea transportation” and “disrupting energy company functions and critical infrastructure.”
According to its own statements, the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” received internal documents from the years 2016 to 2021 from an anonymous source shortly after the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine. The newspaper evaluated them together with international media partners. Accordingly, cyber security experts and several Western secret services consider the documents to be authentic. The Vulkan company cooperates with the most important Russian secret services FSB, GRU and SWR. Neither the company nor the Kremlin spokesman commented on the reports on request.
Were the programs used?
“Vulkan is a pillar of the Russian police state. Vulkan develops software that can be used against its own people and against other countries,” reported a former Vulkan employee, according to ZDF. It is therefore not possible to determine whether and where the programs were used. However, the documents showed that the programs had been commissioned, tested and paid for.
Cyber attacks on behalf of states are considered a modern weapon of warfare and propaganda, and they are usually difficult to prove. Allegations against Russia of deliberately using the internet for disinformation have been around for a long time – including after the 2016 US presidential election campaign.
