Ukraine Largest Mobile Network Operator “Kyivstar” Faces Cyberattack
Ukraine’s largest mobile network operator, Kyivstar, is working to restore operations by Wednesday following a significant cyberattack. This incident, seemingly the most extensive since Russia initiated its war on Ukraine in February 2022, impacted over half of Ukraine’s population who are Kyivstar mobile subscribers. The Kyivstar cyberattack disrupted services, damaged IT infrastructure, and jeopardized the ability to alert millions about potential Russian air assaults.
CEO Attributes Attack to Ongoing War with Russia
Oleksandr Komarov, Kyivstar’s CEO, attributed the attack to the ongoing war with Russia, emphasizing the warfare extending into cyberspace. He stated that the company had to physically shut down Kyivstar to impede the enemy’s access as countering the virtual assault proved challenging.
Komarov refrained from explicitly blaming a specific Russian entity, but assured users that personal data remained uncompromised. A Russian hacktivist group named Killnet claimed responsibility via Telegram, but without providing evidence. The Ukrainian military reportedly remained unaffected by the service outage.
Ukraine’s SBU intelligence agency is exploring the possibility of Russian security services conducting the Kyivstar cyberattack. Kyivstar, with 24.3 million mobile subscribers and over 1.1 million home internet subscribers, aimed to restore services, with fixed-line services partially recovered by late Tuesday.
State-Driven Cyber Warfare: A Source Close to Cyber Defense Agency
A source close to Ukraine’s cyber defense agency pointed towards Russia as the likely source of the attack, emphasizing state involvement. The attack, devoid of ransom demands, appeared driven by destruction rather than financial motives.
Kyivstar’s working hypothesis is that the attack aimed at causing disruption and destruction. Speculations include attempts to disrupt President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s visit to the U.S., aggravate energy blackouts, or impact Ukrainian morale during a crucial time in the conflict.
Ukrainian officials noted that air raid alert systems in over 75 settlements in the Kyiv region were affected, compelling the use of loudspeakers to announce aerial danger until repairs were completed. Millions of Ukrainians heavily depend on phone alerts to warn them of potential Russian air attacks.
Alternative Network Providers and Public Concerns
In response to the outage, some people in Kyiv sought alternative network providers, creating queues at competitors like Vodafone. The situation prompted concerns as individuals faced connectivity issues, hindering navigation and communication.
Kyivstar, owned by Veon, an Amsterdam-listed mobile telecoms operator, assured cooperation with law enforcement. Veon announced its investigation into the Kyivstar cyberattack and expressed uncertainty about the financial impact.
In a separate incident, the co-founder of Monobank, a major Ukrainian payment system, reported a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack but asserted control over the situation. PrivatBank and Oschadbank, major Ukrainian financial institutions, reported ATMs and card terminals being affected by the Kyivstar cyberattack.
Throughout the conflict, Ukrainian state bodies and companies have consistently accused Russia of orchestrating cyberattacks against them. At the war’s onset, Viasat Inc. experienced a cyberattack that disabled thousands of satellite internet modems across Europe, causing a significant loss in communications for Ukraine.
Read More (Cyber)
