December 12, 2023 at 04:39PM
Ukraine’s largest mobile telecom operator, Kyivstar, suffered a cyberattack, causing cell service and internet outages for millions. CEO Oleksandr Komarov confirmed the attack, indicating significant damage to the telco’s IT infrastructure. The attack is suspected to be part of Russia’s broader kinetic strikes in the ongoing war, with potential involvement of Russian-backed cyberactors.
Key takeaways from the meeting notes:
1. Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest mobile telecom operator, suffered a cyberattack that disrupted cell service for over half of Ukraine’s population, internet for millions, and the emergency air-raid system in the capital region.
2. CEO Oleksandr Komarov confirmed the attack, stating that the telco’s IT infrastructure is “partially destroyed” with no set timeline for restoration.
3. A source close to Ukraine’s cyber defense suggested the attack was a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack with no ransom demand, emphasizing its destructive nature.
4. The attack is the most significant to hit Ukrainian communications infrastructure since the Viasat outage following Russia’s February 2022 invasion.
5. Vodafone, Kyivstar’s main competitor, remains operational.
6. The CEO linked the attack to Russia’s broader kinetic strikes in the war, defining it as a part of the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, citing the occurrence of cyber warfare.
7. The Russian hacktivist group Killnet claimed responsibility for the attack, but skepticism has been voiced by Dan Black, principal analyst at Mandiant Intelligence for Google Cloud, regarding their capabilities.
8. Russian-backed cyberattack activities have been prevalent in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, with other advanced persistent threat (APT) suspects potentially involved in the attack on Kyivstar, as suggested by Nick Tausek, lead security automation architect at Swimlane.
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