A Russian hacking group, believed by Ukraine to be working with Russia’s military intelligence, has claimed responsibility for a cyberattack that targeted Kyivstar, Ukraine's largest mobile operator.
Ukraine’s security service, or SBU, said on Wednesday that they are working to repair Kyivstar’s network.
The attack occurred on Tuesday and took out Kyivstar’s network with its 24 million users, rendering them unable to talk on the phone or receive raid alert notifications, following a ballistic missile attack that wounded over 50 people.
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The hacking group, Solntsepyok, claimed responsibility for the attack on the social media platform Telegram, where it also posted screenshots displaying how it was able to access Kyivstar’s servers.
"We attacked Kyivstar because the company provides communications to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as well as state bodies and Ukraine's security forces," the Telegram post said. "To the other offices helping the Ukrainian Armed Forces: be prepared!"
Ukraine had previously identified Solntsepyok as a front for the Russian hacking group “sandworm,” which is linked to Russia's main directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, or GRU military intelligence agency.
“Sandworm is Moscow’s weapon of choice for cyberattacks. No other actor comes close in terms of the imminent threat they pose to critical infrastructure in Ukraine,” said John Hultquist, who heads threat analysis at Google's Mandiant Intelligence.
Russia has denied any involvement in the cyberattacks.
Solntsepyok said it destroyed 10,000 computers and 4,000 servers in the attacks, claims which are refuted by Kyivstar.
Some information in this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
