The United Kingdom is allocating £16 million for Ukraine's cyber defense

The government of the United Kingdom announced on June 18th that it would expand its program to assist Ukraine in cyber defense. According to the statement, the United Kingdom will provide an additional £16 million ($20.5 million) in funding for cyber defense programs. Ukraine may potentially receive an additional £9 million from international allies for these purposes, as reported by Reuters.

At 10 Downing Street, it was stated that the assistance package for strengthening cyber defense (which supplements the £6.35 million provided last year) will enable Ukraine to better protect its critically important national infrastructure from destructive attacks by Russia, as Kyiv conducts a counteroffensive to push back Russian forces from the occupied territories in southern and eastern Ukraine.

"The appalling Russian attacks on Ukraine extend beyond the barbaric invasion by their military but also include appalling attempts to attack Ukrainian cyber infrastructure, which provides vital services that we all rely on. To stop these attacks, strengthen Ukraine's cyber defense, and increase its resilience, this funding is of crucial importance," said Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom. The British Prime Minister added, "This funding will help the country detect and neutralize harmful programs targeted against them."

Next week, Rishi Sunak will also urge Ukrainians - from banking services to energy supply - and businesses to increase their investments in Ukraine at a special conference to help the country recover its economy after the Russian invasion.

"The bravery of Ukraine on the battlefield must be matched by the vision of the private sector to help the country recover," said Sunak, according to the text of his speech released by his office on Saturday. A new digital platform will be launched to bring together Ukrainian and international companies to promote collaboration, according to Downing Street's statement.

The organizers announced that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will also participate virtually in this two-day event, which will commence in London on Wednesday.

Since 2014, Ukraine has experienced a series of major cyber attacks by hackers controlled by the Russian government. The most notable of these attacks occurred in 2017 using the NotPetya ransomware. At that time, Russian military hackers from the group Sandworm targeted Ukrainian government structures, the financial sector, and businesses (as well as targets in other Western countries), resulting in several days of paralysis for many companies and government agencies, as well as multimillion-dollar damages worldwide. A significant increase in hacker attacks on Ukrainian government bodies and critical infrastructure was also observed in February 2022 prior to the full-scale invasion.