Ukraine’s largest mobile network goes down after massive cyberattack
A cyber attack has taken down Ukraine's largest telecom operator Kyivstar, leaving millions of people without internet access or phone calls.
The attack so far appears to be an act of sabotage, as the telecom company posted a warning on social media stating that customer data had not been compromised, indicating that the attack was not ransomware-related.
The telecom network was shut down by security forces in an attempt to 'localize' the attack, and the company stated that it is working to restore the network.
SIM switching increases the network load
Rather than wait for Kievstar to restore the network, many Ukrainians instead bought new SIM cards from other network providers such as Vodafone and Lifecell. However, the sudden increase in the number of new devices on these networks caused some Lifecell services to go down, and Vodafone reported that network usage had increased by 30%.
A number of other services, such as banking and payment processing, have also been down as a result of the attack, as many payment devices such as ATMs use a SIM card for connectivity. Kyivstar commented on the outages, stating that the disruption caused is not “huge.”
There is currently no indication who was behind the attack, but Ukraine has suffered an increasing number of cyber attacks from Russian-speaking cyber gangs since the Russian annexation of Crimea and subsequent invasion. Speaking to Ukrainian media, the Ukrainian security service, known as the SBU, said they suspect Russian intelligence services were behind the attack.
Hacktivists on both sides of the war have claimed responsibility for a number of cyber attacks on both Ukrainian and Russian networks and energy infrastructure. Russian-speaking cyber groups have also stepped up attacks on countries that supply aid to Ukraine in an effort to disrupt supplies and increase the cost of supporting Ukraine.
The attack also brought down a number of mobile missile warning systems, leaving about 75 settlements around Kiev without early warning of missile attacks.
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