Ukraine’s tech sector becomes weapon against Russia
By Olha Kosova
Lviv, Ukraine, Mar 8 (EFE).- Nearly two weeks after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, confrontations are taking all shapes and forms, with Ukrainian technology specialists moving the battlefield into the cyber world.
From carrying out cyber-attacks on Russian websites and making donations in cryptocurrencies, to gathering imagery of the war and information about the Russian forces, Ukrainian technology firms and experts have become key actors in the war with Russia.
Reface, a Ukrainian meme-generating startup, has sent two million users in Russia texts such as “No to war,” “Go out and protest,” “Find out how many soldiers have died,” and “We don’t have the money, but we have the courage.”
MacPaw is actively taking part in the fight. It offers all users, even those from Russia, a chance to “read the truth about the war in Ukraine.”
The software company is also providing journalists covering the large-scale invasion free access to CleanMyMac, which includes multiple apps that clean, protect and optimize Apple laptops.
“Our job now is to help Ukraine resist, to make the Russian people as aware as possible so that they realize the horrible truth, and perhaps take to the streets to stop (Russian president Vladimir) Putin,” the company’s CEO Oleksandr Kosovan tells Efe.
Ukraine-founded Grammarly, the 10th most valuable startup in the United States, has donated “$5 million to organizations and funds defending and supporting the people of Ukraine.”
It has also blocked users located in Russia and Belarus from using its products and services.
Mykhailo Fedorov, the Ukrainian minister of digital transformation who launched a mobile app for government services, named Diia, organized a digital army that informs users about the war-ravaged country’s next targets, mainly Russian propaganda websites.
A month ago, hackers working for the Russian government succeeded in destabilizing several Ukrainian government websites.
“Since the war began, many Ukrainian specialists began to attack Russian servers, using denial-of-service attacks, with such enthusiasm that company managers sent a letter asking not to use their servers and facilities,” explains Eugeniy, a 30-year-old man who works in the marketing department of one of the companies in the tech sector.
Software developer Kostia says that “it makes perfect sense to ban staging attacks from corporate computers,” but adds that many programmers at the company have personal laptops.
“Nobody can forbid us from doing it from personal computers,” the 35-year-old points out. EFE
ok/smq/jt
