Best of 2025: Ukraine Pwns Russian Drone Maker — Gaskar is ‘Paralyzed’
None
<p><strong><a href="#sbbwis"><img decoding="async" class="alignright size-full" title="DonkeyHotey (cc:by)" src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/putin-richixbw-donkeypotey-cc-by-51927579609_e819a092f9_o-130x90.png" alt="Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (caricature)" width="130" height="90"></a></strong></p><h5 style="text-align: center;"><strong>Ukrainian Cyber Alliance and Black Owl team up to hack manufacturer of Russi</strong><strong>an military drones, sources say.</strong></h5><p><strong>Gaskar Group, Russian designer of drones plaguing Ukraine’s skies, is in utter disarray.</strong> Or, at least, so says Ukrainian military intelligence.</p><p><!--br--><br><strong>Hacker groups teamed up to steal and delete 57 TB of critical data and backups,</strong> preventing the company from operating, we’re told. In today’s <a href="https://securityboulevard.com/tag/sb-blogwatch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SB Blogwatch</a>, we peer through the fog of war.<br><!--br--><br><a title="Richi Jennings" href="https://www.richi.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Your humble blogwatcher</a> curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention: <i>Hengist has a bone</i>.<br><!--br--></p><h2>All Your UAVs Are Belong to UKR</h2><p id="sbbw1"><strong>What’s the craic?</strong> Anonymous scribblers at Pryamyi cite sources in military intelligence: <a title="read the full text" href="https://prm.ua/en/ukrainian-hackers-destroyed-the-it-infrastructure-of-a-russian-drone-manufacturer-what-is-known/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener">Ukrainian Hackers Cripple IT Infrastructure of Russian Drone Manufacturer</a></p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><strong>“<tt>All information on the manufacturer’s servers has been destroyed</tt>”</strong><br>Hackers … successfully attacked the network and server infrastructure of … one of the largest suppliers of drones to the Russian army. [They] have gained access to over 47 terabytes of technical information related to the production of Russian drones, including data revealing close cooperation between the Russian drone manufacturer and China.<br>…<br>Among the stolen data [is] complete technical documentation on drone production, which has been transferred to the relevant specialists of the Defense Forces of Ukraine. … All information on the manufacturer’s servers has been destroyed, … accounting systems at the enterprise are not functioning, and the operations of Gaskar Company’s development center are paralyzed.<br><!-----------------------------------------------------------------------------></p><p id="sbbw2"><strong>What else do we know?</strong> Daryna Antoniuk adds: <a title="read the full text" href="https://therecord.media/ukraine-hackers-claim-attack-russia-gaskar-group-drone-maker" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener">Ukraine-aligned hackers claim cyberattack on major Russian drone supplier</a></p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><strong>“<tt>Thousands of drones won’t be reaching the front lines anytime soon</tt>”</strong><br>Two well-known Ukrainian volunteer hacker groups — the Ukrainian Cyber Alliance (UAC) and Black Owl (BO Team) — claimed to have accessed and destroyed … technical data from Gaskar Group, a Russian developer and manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles. … Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) confirmed the attack and its involvement.<br>…<br>The hackers also claimed the attack affected the company’s building security system, forcing staff to trigger the fire alarm to unlock doors. As a result of the attack, “thousands of drones won’t be reaching the front lines anytime soon,” UAC said. [We] could not independently verify the claims, and Gaskar Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<br><!-----------------------------------------------------------------------------></p><p id="sbbw4"><strong>This is not your grandfather’s war.</strong> <a title="read the full text" href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44583248" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener">Kapura</a> channels <a title="The term “cyberpunk” first appeared as the title of a short story by Bruce Bethke, written in 1980 and published in Amazing Stories in 1983." href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberpunk#Etymology" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener">Bruce Bethke</a>:</p><p style="padding-left: 40px;">Cyber warfare is really reaching a new peak in Ukraine—and not just the more traditional cyberattacks like this. The target is of note: The drones themselves are the thing that’s setting this war apart from … wars of the past.<br>…<br>This is some very cyberpunk **** going on right now. This was obviously a very high-value target, and Ukraine has shown themselves again to be masters of asymmetric warfare: Taking out a sizable chunk of Russia’s long range bombers using drones smuggled across Russia, and now impacting one of the centers of Russia’s drone manufacturing.<br><!-----------------------------------------------------------------------------></p><p id="sbbw5"><strong>Are there lessons for us?</strong> This <a title="read the full text" href="https://forums.theregister.com/forum/all/2025/07/16/ukrainian_drone_attack/#c_5107912" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener">Anonymous Coward</a> hopes so:</p><p style="padding-left: 40px;">Hopefully, all critical infrastructure and businesses are also hearing about this and learning from it. Unfortunately, I suspect many will view it as <i>haha silly Russians</i> and move on.<br><!-----------------------------------------------------------------------------></p><p id="sbbw6"><strong>But should they have shown their hand?</strong> <a title="read the full text" href="https://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=23745974&cid=65528808" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener">AmiMoJo</a> argues not:</p><p style="padding-left: 40px;">Instead of just trashing all the computers at the factory, they could have introduced subtle errors into the drones’ flight control systems, damaged the batteries, made them randomly explode when turned on. … Like what was done to Iran’s centrifuges.<br><!-----------------------------------------------------------------------------></p><p id="sbbw7"><strong>Wait. <i>Pause.</i> Is the story even true?</strong> <a title="read the full text" href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44584863" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener">Theodores</a> urges us to think critically:</p><p style="padding-left: 40px;">We only have one side of the story to go on. Often this can be embroidered, particularly if there is propaganda value. [If] using version control … with every developer having all of the software they have developed … git-cloned to their development machines … then you do have to wonder if they have lost the crown jewels.<br>…<br>It is going to be a similar situation with everything else, such as CAD files. People will have local copies. … You would expect the elite hackers to have taken [down] the website, … but no they have not.<br>…<br>The whole Ukraine situation is an intelligence test. In wartime you never have complete information so it is not like a game of chess where you know what the board is, what the pieces are and the play so far. Some fog of war is expected. … However, the intended audience for this story doesn’t care about hard evidence, they just need a morale boost.<br><!-----------------------------------------------------------------------------></p><p id="sbbw8"><strong>Does that matter?</strong> Not according to <a title="read the full text" href="https://forums.theregister.com/forum/all/2025/07/16/ukrainian_drone_attack/#c_5107889" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener">Pascal Monett</a>:</p><p style="padding-left: 40px;">Well, whether or not this claim is valid, it does indicate that future warfare is not going to content itself with only what is happening on the front lines. … Hitler failed to even get to Moscow, … the Japanese failed to hold their conquests in the Pacific.<br>…<br>It all boils down to <i>supply</i>. … In WWII, for every US soldier sent into battle, there were 100 people working 24/7 to get him his ammo, food, gear and whatever else he needed. … And successfully hindering any part of that supply line could make quite a difference in the final outcome.<br><!-----------------------------------------------------------------------------></p><p id="sbbw12"><strong>Meanwhile,</strong> <a title="read the full text" href="https://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=23745974&cid=65528306" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener">93 Escort Wagon</a> winks scurrilously:</p><p style="padding-left: 40px;">Uh oh. Sounds like we should expect news about yet another senior Russian … <i>accidentally</i> falling out a window.<br><!-----------------------------------------------------------------------------></p><p><b><a title="And Finally" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgzzIJQzaAE&list=PL9zSC5i495YMjIuJjxToNGU8Ve7Gd5Rvj" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meet Hengist—he has a bone, you see</a></b><script src="https://scripts.withcabin.com/hello.js" async="" defer></script><!-- zero-cookie analytics privacy: https://withcabin.com/privacy/securityboulevard.com --></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmP6ufImYws&list=PL9zSC5i495YMjIuJjxToNGU8Ve7Gd5Rvj" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Previously in <em>And Finally</em></a></p><hr><p><em>You have been reading <i>SB Blogwatch</i> by <a href="https://www.richi.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Richi Jennings</a>. Richi curates the best bloggy bits, finest forums, and weirdest websites—so you don’t have to. Hate mail may be directed to <a href="https://twitter.com/richi" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener">@RiCHi</a>, <a href="https://threads.net/@richij" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener">@richij</a>, <a href="https://vmst.io/@richi" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener">@<span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a6d4cfc5cecfe6d0cbd5d288cfc9">[email protected]</span></a>, <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/richi.bsky.social" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener">@richi.bsky.social</a> or <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#97e4f5f5e0d7e5fef4fffeb9f4f8b9e2fca8e4e2f5fdf2f4e3aabae4f5f5e0ba"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c0b3a2a2b780b2a9a3a8a9eeb5ab">[email protected]</span></a>. Ask your doctor before reading. Your mileage may vary. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Do not stare into laser with remaining eye. E&OE. 30.</em></p><p>Image sauce: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/donkeyhotey/51927579609" target="_blank" rel="noopener" name="sbbwis">DonkeyHotey</a> (<a title="Some rights reserved" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener">cc:by</a>; leveled and cropped)</p><div class="spu-placeholder" style="display:none"></div><div class="addtoany_share_save_container addtoany_content addtoany_content_bottom"><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_20 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="https://securityboulevard.com/2025/12/ukraine-pwns-russian-drone-maker-gaskar-is-paralyzed-2/" data-a2a-title="Best of 2025: Ukraine Pwns Russian Drone Maker — Gaskar is ‘Paralyzed’"><a class="a2a_button_twitter" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F12%2Fukraine-pwns-russian-drone-maker-gaskar-is-paralyzed-2%2F&linkname=Best%20of%202025%3A%20Ukraine%20Pwns%20Russian%20Drone%20Maker%20%E2%80%94%20Gaskar%20is%20%E2%80%98Paralyzed%E2%80%99" title="Twitter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F12%2Fukraine-pwns-russian-drone-maker-gaskar-is-paralyzed-2%2F&linkname=Best%20of%202025%3A%20Ukraine%20Pwns%20Russian%20Drone%20Maker%20%E2%80%94%20Gaskar%20is%20%E2%80%98Paralyzed%E2%80%99" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F12%2Fukraine-pwns-russian-drone-maker-gaskar-is-paralyzed-2%2F&linkname=Best%20of%202025%3A%20Ukraine%20Pwns%20Russian%20Drone%20Maker%20%E2%80%94%20Gaskar%20is%20%E2%80%98Paralyzed%E2%80%99" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_reddit" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/reddit?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F12%2Fukraine-pwns-russian-drone-maker-gaskar-is-paralyzed-2%2F&linkname=Best%20of%202025%3A%20Ukraine%20Pwns%20Russian%20Drone%20Maker%20%E2%80%94%20Gaskar%20is%20%E2%80%98Paralyzed%E2%80%99" title="Reddit" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_email" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/email?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsecurityboulevard.com%2F2025%2F12%2Fukraine-pwns-russian-drone-maker-gaskar-is-paralyzed-2%2F&linkname=Best%20of%202025%3A%20Ukraine%20Pwns%20Russian%20Drone%20Maker%20%E2%80%94%20Gaskar%20is%20%E2%80%98Paralyzed%E2%80%99" title="Email" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a></div></div>