Poland

Kyiv Spy Chief: Russian Hackers Inside Ukrainian Telecoms Giant Since May

JAN 4 2024·Updated FEB 8 2024

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Image credit: Maksym Kozlenko/Wikimedia Commons

The Facts

Russian hackers compromised Ukraine's biggest telecommunications provider from as far back as May 2023, Ukraine's top cybersecurity official told Reuters in an interview published Thursday.
Reuters
Kyivstar, which provides services to 24M Ukrainians, went down temporarily the following December. Officials blamed the outage on a hack, but reassured customers that their personal data had not been breached.
The Kyiv Independent
However, Illia Vitiuk, head of cybersecurity at the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), revealed to Reuters that, according to his department's findings, Russian hackers must have had access to the firm's system months earlier. "For now, we can say securely, that they were in the system at least since May 2023," suggesting that they may have had full access since November or earlier.
Reuters
Vitiuk added during this time, hackers would have been able to obtain the personal information of Kyivstar users, intercept their text messages, and even find the locations of their phones. In a statement, a spokesperson for the firm said it was helping the SBU investigate and was taking measures to avoid further breaches, further adding that, "No facts of leakage of personal and subscriber data have been revealed."
Reuters
Although a Russian hacker group called Solntsepek reportedly claimed the December attack, Vitiuk added that an investigation is still ongoing. At this stage, he said he was "pretty sure" the attack was carried out by Sandworm, a unit of Russia's military intelligence, which he said the SBU has linked to Solntsepek.
Reuters

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The Spin

Pro-Ukraine narrative

This cyber hack is a wake-up call not just to Ukraine, but all of Europe and the world. It demonstrates the lengths that Russian hackers are prepared to go to steal sensitive data, reiterating why everyone must take the threat of future Russian intrusions with adequate seriousness.

The Kyiv Independent

Pro-Russia narrative

Russian agencies and government computers are attacked by sophisticated hackers from across the world every single day. The Russian government is by no means an exception in having to ensure that its systems are protected and safe from foreign attacks. It's disingenuous to label the Kremlin as a bad actor when it comes to cyber crimes.

TASS