Russia’s Aeroflot cancels flights after pro-Ukrainian hackers claim massive cyberattack

MOSCOW, Russia, July 29 ------ Russian airline Aeroflot was forced to cancel dozens of flights after a shadowy pro-Ukrainian hacking group claimed responsibility for what it said was a crippling cyberattack. The national carrier did not provide further details about the cause of the problem or how long it would take to resolve, but departure boards at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport turned red as flights were cancelled at a time when many Russians take their holidays.

The Kremlin said the situation was worrying, and prosecutors confirmed the airline’s problems were the result of a hack and opened a criminal investigation. A statement purporting to be from a hacking group called Silent Crow said it had carried out the operation together with a Belarusian group called Cyberpartisans BY, and linked it to the war in Ukraine. “Glory to Ukraine! Long live Belarus!” said the statement, whose authenticity Reuters could not immediately verify.

Silent Crow has previously claimed responsibility for attacks this year on a Russian real estate database, a state telecoms company, a large insurance firm, the Moscow government’s IT department and the Russian office of South Korean car marker KIA. Some of these resulted in big data leaks. “The information that we are reading in the public domain is quite alarming. The hacker threat is a threat that remains for all large companies providing services to the population,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “We will, of course, clarify the information and wait for appropriate clarifications.”

Aeroflot, the transport ministry and the aviation regulator did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the hacking claim. The airline said it had cancelled more than 50 flights – mostly within Russia but also including routes to the Belarusian capital Minsk and the Armenian capital Yerevan – after reporting a failure in its information systems. At least 10 other flights were delayed. “Specialists are currently working to minimize the impact on the flight schedule and to restore normal service operations,” it said.

The statement in the name of Silent Crow said the cyberattack was the result of a year-long operation which had deeply penetrated Aeroflot’s network, destroyed 7,000 servers and gained control over the personal computers of employers including senior managers. It did not provide evidence. It threatened to shortly start releasing “the personal data of all Russians who have ever flown Aeroflot”.

Source: rappler.com