Mincifra again denies information about the probable hacking of "Diy" and gives new arguments

After yesterday's publication regarding the search by the US government for a Russian hacker who allegedly hacked "Diia" in 2022 and posted data on 13.5 million of its users in the darknet, the editors of ITC.UA received a comment on behalf of the Ministry of Digital Transformation. The sender of the email uses the domain thedigital.gov.ua, but did not specify her position or any contacts in the email, except for the email address.

The email once again refutes the information about the hacking of "Diia". It also notes that the database posted in the darknet was "disguised as Diia data". Moreover, the information about 13 million users was actually a compilation of "various databases that were leaked much earlier from private companies". At that time, "Diia" allegedly had only 1.5 million users. To avoid accusations of distorting information, we provide the text of the email without any changes.

“Greetings! I am writing regarding the report about a possible attack on Diia https://itc.ua/news/tam-mogly-byt-vashy-dannye-ssha-obyavyly-v-rozysk-hakera-kotoryj-veroyatno-vzlomal-diyu-v-2022-godu/

The case files do not contain information about the hacking of Diia. The person involved in the case in 2022 posted a database in the darknet disguised as Diia data. This was immediately discovered by Ukrainian special services, so a purchase and analysis of the materials was conducted. At that time, Diia's portal had only 1.5 million users. Experts thoroughly studied the materials and found that the 13 million data was a compilation of various databases leaked much earlier from private companies.

Your reports contain screenshots that are misleading. Please verify information from the primary source before publication, as we are currently on the same information front, and such headlines and articles undermine citizens' trust. You can familiarize yourself with the case materials and understand that this is a hypothesis and a clickbait headline.

The best decision would be to remove this publication to avoid misleading citizens.

We hope for your understanding.”

At the same time, the information provided in the email contradicts the previous statement by the Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, on January 2, 2022. Back then, Fedorov stated that "Diia" crossed the threshold of 13 million active users, with the number of users increasing by 50-70 thousand daily.

This statement was made 11 days before a massive hacker attack on Ukrainian government resources. On the night of January 13-14, a hacker attack was carried out on a number of government websites. The State Special Communications emphasized that the attackers did not access the state registers where Ukrainians' data is stored, so Diia users have nothing to worry about.

Within a week, hackers put up for sale a database with personal information of millions of Ukrainian citizens and claimed it was the Diia service database. The Ministry of Digital Transformation called it a provocation and a continuation of the hybrid war.