Ukrainian hackers target Russia's high-tech hub, Skolkovo Foundation, in a cyberattack

In a significant development amid the ongoing virtual conflict between Ukraine and Russia, Ukrainian hackers have successfully breached the systems of the Skolkovo Foundation, the agency responsible for overseeing Russia’s prestigious high-tech business area on the outskirts of Moscow.

Established in 2010 by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Skolkovo Foundation was envisioned as a formidable rival to the renowned Silicon Valley in the United States, signifying Russia’s ambitious endeavors to replicate the success of the American innovation ecosystem.

Skolkovo Foundation released a statement confirming the cyberattack, disclosing that the hackers could obtain limited access to specific information systems of the organization, including its file hosting service stored on physical servers.

A group of Ukrainian hacktivists claimed responsibility for the attack and substantiated their claims by sharing screenshots of the systems they managed to infiltrate via the Telegram messaging platform. They also left a message for Skolkovo, asserting, "Your infrastructure has been destroyed. We have all the documents and project source codes. Stay tuned."

Skolkovo Foundation referred to this incident as the most severe cyberattack in history, as the hackers attempted to dismantle its infrastructure. Although the company’s website is currently operational, it took Skolkovo approximately a day to fully restore all its services. The company has confirmed that Russian law enforcement agencies are investigating the incident.

Analyzing data leaks, a Russian Telegram group has reported that critical user data remains uncompromised. However, the hackers could access various non-sensitive information such as presentations, photos, contracts, and lists of partners and counterparties of legal entities, as outlined in the group’s analysis.