Inside Ukraine’s IT Army

Russia has been hacking Ukraine for at least a decade now, but since the invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022, the cyber war has changed. Instead of being a tactical element, cyber war is now a full-fledged strategic aspect of the conflict, on both sides. At the outset, Ukraine put out an official call to enlist cyber warriors from around the globe to their cause in what’s been called the IT Army of Ukraine. Today we’ll look at how this group was formed, how it operates, and what we should all be learning from what’s happening there. My guest is Dina Temple-Raston from The Record, the Click Here Podcast, and formerly NPR. Interview Notes Dina Temple-Raston at The Record: https://therecord.media/author/dina-temple-raston  Click Here podcast: https://therecord.media/podcast  Click Here, Episode 98: “Lessons from the world’s first hybrid war”: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/click-here/id1225077306?i=1000639045741  NPR’s I’ll Be Seeing You: https://www.npr.org/series/760566025/ill-be-seeing-you  Operation Glowing Symphony: https://www.npr.org/2019/09/26/763545811/how-the-u-s-hacked-isis  Further Info Send me your questions! https://fdsd.me/qna  Check out my book, Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons: https://fdsd.me/book  Subscribe to the newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter  Become a patron! https://www.patreon.com/FirewallsDontStopDragons  Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch  Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons  Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support  Generate secure passphrases! https://d20key.com/#/  Table of Contents Use these timestamps to jump to a particular section of the show. 0:04:50: How did you get into covering cybersecurity and cyber warfare? 0:06:48: When and how did Russian cyber attacks begin in Ukraine? 0:15:40: What is the IT Army of Ukraine and what is its origin? 0:20:47: Have we seen other cyberwar volunteer organizations? 0:23:05: How are information and communications being utilized by the IT Army? 0:26:53: How has Russia responded to this? 0:28:34: How are IT Army members recruited and vetted? 0:30:17: How are objectives coordinated? 0:31:20: Where are IT Army members coming from? 0:32:03: Do we know if Western military members are participating in the IT Army? 0:36:30: What are the military lessons to be learned here? 0:42:11: What should civilians be learning from all of this? 0:46:01: What’s next for you and Click Here? 0:47:14: Wrap-up and looking ahead