The One Fist group, comprised of civilian hacker activists from various countries, has received recognition from the Ukrainian military for their actions in cyberspace aimed at countering Russian activity.
One Fist successfully stole data from Russian military companies and hacked their cameras to monitor their military operations.
This recognition by the Ukrainian military reflects a change in the nature of military confrontation in the age of digital technologies.
However, it is worth noting that this practice is becoming a subject of general discussion in the world, where there are certain concerns about the state's encouragement of civilian hackers.
The hacker under the pseudonym Voltage, coordinating the hacking from the US territory, turned out to be Christopher Cortright, an IT specialist from Michigan. He, a 53-year-old man, told the BBC that he feels satisfied that his help to Ukraine has received official recognition.
One Fist, made up of representatives from eight different countries, including Britain, the US and Poland, carried out a series of cyber attacks and shared it on social media.
All participants received certificates for "significant contribution to the development and maintenance of the military's vital activities", signed by the commander of the Airborne Assault Forces of Ukraine.
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine did not respond to the BBC's requests for comment.
Although Ukraine has ambivalently encouraged the actions of volunteer hackers against Russian targets in cyberspace since the beginning of the full-scale war, sending official awards to foreign nationals is seen as a controversial move and a sign of changes in modern warfare.
While many countries, including the UK and the US, have official reward systems for ethical hacking, this case may be the first time a country rewards hackers for criminal activity.
In October, the International Committee of the Red Cross warned against the use and encouragement of civilian hackers due to increased hacking attacks by Ukrainian authorities and during the Gaza conflict, based on the rules of war set out in the Geneva Conventions.
Dr. Lukash Oleynyk, author of the book Philosophy of Cyber Security, expresses concern about Ukraine rewarding foreign hackers, considering it a potentially problematic move.
"Awards may further blur the lines between military and civilians, and even undermine the ICRC's call to limit the participation of civilians in hostilities. On a long-term basis, this can be dangerous," he notes.
The fact that cyberspace is now considered an open space for anyone to participate in is "a sign of our times," adds Dr. Oleynyk.
Christopher began conducting cyber attacks against Russia after the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. He is devoted to this cause and is ready to make sacrifices.
"Because of this, I lost my job and spent all my savings to support Ukraine," he told the BBC. - "This award really boosts morale."
While the awards do not specify which cyberattacks benefited Ukraine the most, Voltage points to three potential candidates.
At the start of the invasion in 2022, the One Fist group spent months locating hundreds of surveillance cameras that were available for public viewing in Ukraine. It turned out that the Russian military was using them to monitor troop movements, and the Voltage team helped disable those cameras.
One Fist also hacked into the camera system in occupied Crimea to track the movements of Russian tanks and equipment across the Kerch Bridge.
Recently, in January, Christopher, together with other hackers, successfully hacked a well-known Russian arms manufacturer and stole 100 gigabytes of personal data, which became a reason for the public joy of the Ukrainian authorities.
"The array of information transferred to the GUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine contains documentation for 194 nomenclature units: drawings, specifications, patents, software, etc. - both about existing and promising military developments," - the message of the GUR stated.
The intelligence agency added that the stolen data was a "significant blow" to Moscow and was estimated at $1.5 billion, although the basis for such an estimate was not specified.
The conflict in Ukraine has caused a significant surge in cyber activity, mostly from supporters of Ukraine. Groups such as Anonymous have used low-level hacking attacks, which Russia has mostly repelled.
In particular, TV and radio stations, as well as news websites, were attacked.
Russian authorities have also been accused of collaborating with hacker groups such as Killnet to carry out attacks on Ukraine, but have never admitted to such collaboration.
Much of the civilian hacking activity on both sides began to decline after the first year of the war. However, the One Fist group continued to attack Russia and increasingly cooperated with the Ukrainian authorities in the selection of targets.
Emily Taylor, chief executive of Oxford Information Labs and editor of the Chatham House Cyber Policy journal, agrees that the hacker awards are an important moment that could change approaches to the use of cyber volunteers in conflict.
"Governments usually deter non-state actors from taking direct action in cyberspace for fear of escalation or unintended consequences, but wartime is often a period of intense technological innovation, and the invasion of Ukraine is no exception," she points out.
"Sometimes such events force us to reconsider issues that were previously taboo," the expert adds.
Christopher claims that his team has established a strong relationship with the Ukrainian military.
"They send us ideas and we send them options, but they never give us any help or funding, because I think that would cross a certain line," he notes.
Christopher admits that awards from the military are a controversial issue, but declares his intention to continue hacking in favor of Ukraine.
