The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine has introduced mandatory verification through the state application Diia to access the tracking feature for Russian missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles in the Air Raid Alert app. The new requirement was adopted at the direct request of the Defense Forces, RBC-Ukraine reports, citing the ministry. Thus, data on the trajectory of enemy targets is now visible only to verified Ukrainian users, eliminating the possibility of this information being used by the enemy.
Audit and Enhanced Protection at All Levels
Development teams Ajax Systems and Stfalcon, together with the Ministry of Digital Transformation, conducted a comprehensive system audit and strengthened its security at all levels. According to the ministry, verification via Diia does not transmit any personal data — the service merely confirms the authentication fact of a specific person. The Air Raid Alert application itself, in turn, does not collect or store users' personal information. The ministry emphasizes that the new mechanism is safe for citizens' privacy.
What Is Available Without Authorization
The basic functionality of the application remains open to all users without passing verification. Without authorization, users can still receive push notifications about air raids, view danger levels in regions, and open the map of nearest shelters. To access the advanced feature — real-time tracking of Russian targets — you need to update Air Raid Alert in Google Play or App Store and complete verification via Diia.
Context: Temporary Disabling and Cyberattack
The tracking feature for enemy missiles and drones in Air Raid Alert was previously temporarily disabled upon the recommendation of the Defense Forces as part of system modernization and enhanced data protection. The decision on the break was made after the November 1 incident, when the application stopped working in the evening, and users began receiving fake notifications about alleged chemical and radiation danger in Kyiv. The Air Force confirmed the fact of the application breach and emphasized that their official resources did not report any ballistic threat, radiation danger, or street fighting in the capital.
Reason for Disabling: Russian Hacker Attack
On the morning of November 2, it became known that Russian hackers were behind the nighttime attack on the application. The military then explained whether the incident affected the operation of the Defense Forces and indicated where Ukrainians should monitor up-to-date threat alerts. It was after this event that the decision was made to temporarily disable tracking and subsequently introduce mandatory verification as an additional protection measure against repeated data compromise attempts.
Thus, the return of the tracking feature in Air Raid Alert linked to Diia became the logical conclusion of the cycle: from a hacker attack through a temporary shutdown to the launch of an enhanced version with multi-level authentication. The Ministry of Digital Transformation and the developers position the new mechanism as a balance between keeping citizens promptly informed and protecting sensitive data from the enemy.
