Ukrainian hacktivists use DDoS, one of cyber's oldest tools, to attack Russian online platforms

The IT army of Ukraine has taken it upon themselves to wreak havoc on Russia's online platforms as much as it can. It is a group made informally by hackers who have volunteered to participate in the fight. An engineer in Ukraine named M, a young adult in his early 20s, could not be a part of the military and is trying to help his country in every way he can.

M states that he is doing whatever he can and wants the war to end. He wants Putin to stop killing Ukrainians. He fears for his family and his life and is just using the initials of his name to stay safe. M uses a widespread form of hacking. He uses DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) and sends fake traffic to Russian websites. He does it from his bedroom, sitting in Lviv, Ukraine.

Unfortunately, these attacks don't do much damage, and the attacked websites come to normal quickly or mitigate these attacks. Any hacktivist can join the movement in saving Ukraine from the terrible situation it finds itself in. M states that this form of hacking is very easy, and anyone can do it with a phone or laptop.


President Joe Biden informed on Monday that Russia is exploring ways to fight the cyberattacks. Google Threat Analysis Group's head, Shane Huntley, states that DDoS attacks are fascinating and appealing to hacktivists because they can be easily deployed.

Huntley even states that DDoS is straightforward, and even a teenager can join this fight as it has almost no barrier to entry. It can help people make an immediate and visible impact. It is not a subtle destruction attack or espionage and is an undeniable form of hacking. It is easy to spot.

Russia has hinted that these attacks have created a nuisance in their country. The exact numbers of these attacks are hard to find. Many websites in Russia have recently started making themselves accessible to people who have an IP address from Russia. This essentially means that a person has to be in Russia to use the website.