Ukrainian and Belarusian hacker groups collaborated to “strike” Russian airlines: critical information systems were breached, 42 flights were canceled at one point, and 7,000 servers were affected.

On July 28th, Russian International Airlines was attacked by hackers, leading to system failures that canceled 42 flights, mostly domestic but also affecting some international flights, causing passengers to be stranded at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. Two hacker groups claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming support for Ukraine and stating that their cyber-attack on Russian Airways had lasted for a year. Currently, the Moscow prosecutor’s office is investigating the incident.
According to news from July 29th, local time, Russian International Airlines announced that due to an IT system attack by hackers, it had to cancel 42 flights. The company stated that the affected flights were mostly domestic, but also impacted the operation of some flights to Belarus and Armenia. Many passengers were stranded at Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow due to flight delays and cancellations.
In a joint statement, two hacker groups from Ukraine and Belarus claimed responsibility for this cyber-attack. The statement also mentioned that the attack was in support of Ukraine. According to Business Insider, the two hacker groups claimed they had penetrated the corporate network of Russian International Airlines for over a year. The hacker groups stated that they had destroyed approximately 7,000 physical and virtual servers, infiltrated critical systems, controlled employees’ personal computers including those of management, and copied large amounts of data.
As of now, the Ukrainian side has not commented on this matter.
Russian International Airlines stated that its expert team is working hard to minimize risks and resume normal operations as soon as possible. Passengers whose flights have been canceled can apply for refunds or rebook other flights within the next ten days.
Currently, the Moscow prosecutor’s office is investigating the incident. Russian News Secretary Peskov expressed Russia’s shock at the cyber-attack and stated that Russia would clarify information and wait for a reasonable explanation from relevant departments.
The cover image source: News