Ukraine computers hit by data-wiping software as Russia launched invasion

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo LONDON/KYIV, Feb 23 (Reuters) - A newly discovered piece of destructive software found circulating in Ukraine has hit hundreds of computers, according to researchers at the cybersecurity firm ESET, part of what Ukrainian officials said was an intensifying wave of hacks aimed at the country. The company said on Twitter that the data wiping program had been installed on hundreds of machines in the country, an attack it said had likely been in the works for the past couple of months. The new cyberattack required existing access to function, meaning those computer networks were already compromised, said Juan-Andres Guerrero-Saade, a cybersecurity researcher at digital security firm SentinelOne. Getting such a certificate under false pretences - or stealing it - isnt impossible, but it is generally the sign of a "sophisticated and targeted" operator, said Brian Kime, a vice president at U.S. cybersecurity firm ZeroFox. read more U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, speaking to Reuters before news of the wiper was made public, said the denial of services actions against Ukraine were still "well short of what Russia could potentially unleash."