Speaking to Recorded Future News on the sidelines of the Kyiv cyber forum, Demediuk said that Ukraine used “an official communication channel” to reach out to Signal about how the app is being abused by Russians, including for phishing attacks and account takeovers targeting Ukrainian users. According to Serhii Demediuk, deputy secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Signal remains one of the most exploited messaging apps for Russian espionage operations targeting Ukrainian military personnel and government officials. KYIV, UKRAINE — The encrypted messaging app Signal has stopped responding to requests from Ukrainian law enforcement regarding Russian cyber threats, a Ukrainian official claimed, warning that the shift is aiding Moscow’s intelligence efforts. In a report published in February, Google’s security team warned that Russian state-backed hackers are increasingly targeting Signal accounts, including those used by Ukrainian military personnel and government officials, in an effort to access sensitive information that could aid Moscow’s war effort. “With its inaction, Signal is helping Russians gather information, target our soldiers and compromise government officials,” Demediuk said at the Kyiv International Cyber Resilience Forum on Tuesday. Ukrainians have increasingly turned to Signal as an alternative to the Russia-founded messaging app Telegram, which has been widely believed to be exploited by Russian intelligence for data collection and influence operations, Demediuk said. International programs backed by American agencies such as USAID have been halted, posing a “significant threat” to the work of independent media and fact-checking organizations, local cyber officials previously told Recorded Future News.
This Cyber News was published on therecord.media. Publication date: Wed, 12 Mar 2025 14:50:06 +0000