23/03/2023
Hacktivism at the service of the State: cyberproxies in Ukraine.- Francisco Marín Gutiérrez
The international implications of carrying out certain hostile actions determine that some States use people or organizations that carry out the desired actions by delegation without these being directly responsible. The use of these intermediaries, doctrinally defined as aopponents by delegationAlthough the term is better known proxyis common in the real world and even more so in cyberspace.
It is intended to expose here how the States, in the confrontations developed in the field of cyberspace, use cyberproxies in support of their purposes, in particular, the so-called hacktivist groups.
In short, the use of proxies finds in cyberspace a new and valuable field of action and with this work we want to pay special attention to how organizations of the hacktivist collective are used as opponents by delegation to carry out offensive actions in the cyber field for the benefit of a State, focusing on the current Russia-Ukraine conflict, as it is the best example of this trend.
Document prepared by Francisco Marin Gutierrez. Lieutenant Colonel of the Army. Joint Cyberspace Command (MCCE).