Ukraine's Largest Mobile Operator Kyivstar Hit by Powerful Cyberattack

Disruption of Phone and Internet Services Affects Millions

Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest telecommunications operator, has been hit by a "powerful" cyberattack that has disrupted phone and internet services for millions of people across the country. In a Facebook post confirming the incident on Tuesday, Kyivstar wrote that the cyberattack has caused a "technical failure" that left customers without mobile connections or internet access.

Impact on Customers and Services

Kyivstar serves more than 24 million cell phone subscribers and more than 1.1 million home internet users, according to the company’s website, which was also inaccessible at the time of writing. The outage has affected not only Kyivstar customers but also other services that rely on the operator’s network.

Services Affected by the Outage

Air Raid Alert System: Officials in the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy warned that its air raid alert system was also affected by the Kyivstar outage. The notification system will temporarily not work, according to a statement by Sumy’s regional military administration posted to Telegram.
Internet and Phone Services: Customers were left without mobile connections or internet access due to the technical failure caused by the cyberattack.

Investigation and Response

When asked whether it believed Russia was behind the attack, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Special Communications Service (SSCIP) told TechCrunch that "it is too early to draw conclusions." The investigation of the incident is ongoing by specialists of the relevant services, including those from the Government Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-UA).

Kyivstar CEO Oleksandr Komarov’s Statement

Kyivstar CEO Oleksandr Komarov said in a video statement that Russia was responsible for the outage. "The war with the Russian Federation has many dimensions, and one of them is in cyberspace," said Komarov. "Unfortunately, this morning the operator became the target of a super-powerful cyberattack, because of which communications services and internet access are unavailable."

Compensation and Restoration Efforts

Kyivstar apologized for the "temporary inconvenience" and promised to compensate users who were affected by the outage. However, the company assured that the personal data of subscribers had not been compromised.

VEON’s Statement

Netherlands-based VEON, Kyivstar’s parent company, said in a statement that its technical teams are "working on eliminating the consequences of the hacker attack and restoring communication as soon as possible."

Other Incidents

At the same time that Kyivstar came under attack, Monobank, one of Ukraine’s largest financial institutions, said it had also been targeted by hackers. The bank’s co-founder Oleh Gorokhovsky said in a post on Telegram that the organization had been struck by a "massive DDoS" attack, referring to cyberattacks that involve floods of junk internet traffic aimed at downing online sites and services.

Investigation into the Incidents

The investigation of the incidents is ongoing, with specialists from various services involved. The Ukrainian government has assured that it will take all necessary measures to ensure the security of its citizens’ personal data.