Ukraine fires top cybersecurity officials TechCrunch

pThe Ukrainian government has fired two of its most senior cybersecurity officials following accusations of alleged embezzlementppYurii Shchyhol head of Ukraines State Special Communications Service of Ukraine or SSSCIP and his deputy Victor Zhora pictured who served as deputy chairman and chief digital transformation officer at SSSCIP were both dismissed by the government according to senior cabinet official Taras Melnychuk in a public post on TelegramppMelnychuk did not give a reason for the dismissalsppSSSCIP confirmed in a statement on Monday that Ukraines cabinet had appointed Dmytro Makovskyi as the acting head of SSSCIP citing an ongoing investigation by Ukraines National AntiCorruption Bureau NABU NABU said in a press release that several members of senior SSSCIP leadership are accused of misusing and embezzling more than 62 million in state fundsppWhen reached for comment Zhora told TechCrunch I have nothing to add to SSSCIP statement at the moment I will defend my name and reputation in a courtppShchyhol could not be immediately reached for commentppReuters first reported the departures SSSCIP did not immediately respond to a request for comment Its not clear whether US cybersecurity agency CISA a close partner of the Ukrainian government and SSSCIP was aware of the firing or given prior notice When asked by email CISA would not say or comment on the specific allegationsppCISA spokesperson Scott McConnell said in an emailed statement Our partnership with the government of Ukraine remains strong and we will continue to support efforts to bolster the cybersecurity and resilience of Ukraines critical infrastructureppUS officials have long touted their close relationship with SSSCIP and Zhora in particular Zhora and CISA director Jen Easterly signed a memorandum of understanding between the US and Ukrainian governments months after Russias unprovoked invasion of UkraineppZhora was most recently in the US to give a keynote speech at cybersecurity conference Cyberwarcon Earlier this year Zhora and Easterly were interviewed together onstage at the Black Hat security conference in Las VegasppUpdated with comment from CISA Lorenzo FranceschiBicchierai contributed reportingppCybercriminals who targeted Ukraine are actually Russian government hackers researchers sayppp