Hacken assists crypto-businesses with cybersecurity. It is also leading a guerilla attack against the Russian internet, as part of the war at home.
Dmytro Budorin (CEO of Hacken), and his team conduct cybersecurity audits of cryptocurrency exchanges and protocols every day. The company transforms into a hacktivist group that ravages the Russian section of the Internet after hours.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24th turned Ukraine into a battlefield. It also prompted civilians to take up arms in defense of their communities. This led to a global cyber army of hackers who waged digital retaliation against Russia. Hacken’s 70 employees include those who manage cybersecurity business, support for Ukrainians on ground, and cyber attacks against Russia.
Continue reading: Ukraine Buys Bulletproof Vests, Night-Vision Goggles and Bulletproof Vests Made of Crypto
Budoring said that everyone was frustrated on the first day and decided it was time to open our own front. He spoke during a video conference, his face gray and tired.
In March, Budorin was in Ukraine. His wife and his in-laws, however, were stuck in Mariupol. Mariupol is a coastal city in the south, which has been heavily bombarded by Russian armed forces for several weeks. Budorin said that he was unable to communicate with his family for a while.
Budorin stated that the family was able to escape the city later, and drove west through war-torn countries, searching for gas to fuel the car or accommodation to stay the night. He said that all were safe now.
Cyber Army against Russia: Recruitment
Budorin stated that they had a financial cushion and donated $260,000 to various funds in support of Ukraine’s war effort. Most of the funds went to the turn back alive fund which helps finance the Ukrainian army. It managed to raise more 400 BTC in the first month and also to the volunteer group led by the activist Tata Ker.
“Days off are over. Budorin stated that the men get back to work after they leave the company and start helping people in Ukraine with coordination.
Budorin stated that Hacken has been able to meet its business goals by auditing the security protocols of crypto exchanges and decentralized finance (DeFi), marketplaces and non-fungible tokens (NFT) markets. He said that revenue didn’t suffer as much because 90% of Hacken clients aren’t in Russia or Ukraine.
Alex Petrov, a former chief information officer at Bitfury Group said that Hacken is well-known within the Ukrainian IT community because of its security audits. Petrov stated to CoinDesk that Hacken is a “decent tech level”, active and growing rapidly.
However, there was a financial cost: Hacken’s HAI token holders in Russia, which are used to pay for the company’s products and services (the firm also accepts fiat currencies), disapproved of the company’s public statements condemning President Vladimir Putin and they sold their bags , dropping the price. Hacken did not react to this. Budorin said: “Let them sale.”
Hacken had already created a tool that companies could use to run stress tests, and test their resilience against distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS). This is when a network or computers overwhelms a website by sending fake requests, until it crashes. Budoring stated that the disBalancer product was made into a cyber weapon for “DDosing the entire Russian Internet.”
He claims that the app has been downloaded more than 55,000 times and that there are approximately 5,000 computers currently using it to launch coordinated DDoS attacks. The software was adapted by fellow developers from the IT Guild of Ukraine (a local trade association).
Budorin stated that disBalancer was currently in development to [become] a tool for smart attack [including] learning how CAPTCHA test, and how to find vulnerabilities.”
Oleg Bevz, Hacken’s marketing director, stated that disBalancer now has over 15,000 members around the globe. There is a strong representation from the crypto and blockchain industries.
Budorin stated that the ultimate goal is to establish a global cyber army made up of Ukrainians. Hacken’s community is in touch to other hacktivist groups, such as the IT Army of Ukraine. This was created in response a call by Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation. Budorin stated that Anonymous, the well-known hacker organization that declared cyber war on the Russian government, is not in touch with Hacken.
Continue reading: “Absolutely Surreal”: Inside a Fund Raising Thousands in Crypto to Besieged Ukraine
“Buy tickets as soon as possible”
Budoring knew that something was coming even before the war began.
With tensions rising at the Russian-Ukrainian border, and Russian troops gathering there in large numbers, Budorin decided that all 70 Hacken employees should be relocated to the West. Hacken’s Estonian headquarters is located, but the majority of Hacken employees are in Ukraine.
The decision was taken on February 14.
Budorin stated, “We told everybody: ‘Buy tickets ASAP. We need to leave, meet with you in Barcelona.'”
Budorin, like many others in Ukraine and abroad, initially thought the troubles would be limited to the Donbass region. This is the eastern Ukraine region that was evicted during the 2014 armed conflict, which was encouraged by Russia. Many people didn’t expect an attack on the whole nation. They considered the relocation temporary and refused to travel or took their families.
Hacken is working hard to move all its staff to Western Ukraine. However, some people remain in cities that have been ravaged by war. They don’t always have internet access. Sometimes people will say, “Sorry, there’s an airstrike here. Please go downstairs and we’ll call you back in an hours.” Budorin stated.
Russia’s damage
This is a picture of a crowd running away from a Russian riot officer. A single silhouette under the Ukrainian flag stops a tank. The line was divided by the phrase “Why?”. This colorful example shows a wave defacing Russian government websites.
The image, which was posted on March 8, on the websites of Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service and Mininstry of Energy, captured the frustration of Ukrainians toward Russians.
Multiple websites of government agencies and government-funded media were affected by DDoS attacks, hacks, and defacing in the first weeks of war. These attacks were perpetrated by hackers from all over the world, including Anonymous and single hackers who attacked Russian websites from their Ukrainian homes. It is not known who was behind the March 8th attack on government websites.
The Russian government acknowledged the extent of the attacks in March. According to the Washington Post, they were two times as powerful than any other attacks.
Hacktivists such as Hacken, the IT Army of Ukraine and Belarusian Cyber Partisan Group get a lot of credit or blame depending on your perspective.
Although the total number of hackers attacking Russia via cyber frontlines remains unclear, it appears that the hacktivist community is quite large. The Telegram channel of Ukraine’s IT Army now has more than 300,000. Each day, the channel releases a new list with targets for cyberattacks.
These calls often include a sarcastic intro such as “How do you stop Russians from travelling?” Below are some tourist shops you might like to visit or a “P2P crypto exchange that is connected to VTB, Sber and other Russian banks. Let them scream!
The channel launched on February 28th. It has been targeted at the Kremlin, Federal Security Service, (FSB), successor to Soviet KGB, communication servers of FSB (recently created riot police forces), federal agencies, city councils and Russian Railways.
Even seemingly small targets, such as platforms that allow freelance gigs, have been included on the list. Although Russian freelancer platforms aren’t obvious targets, we believe they should also feel that the war is real. “Every Russian who supports Putin, war, and killing Ukrainians should suffer economic damage,” a member stated.
CoinDesk did not receive a response from the IT Army of Ukraine to our request for comment.
