The Kremlin has described reports of a cyber-attack on Russia’s national carrier Aeroflot as “worrying” after the airline was forced to cancel dozens of flights.
A statement purporting to be from pro-Ukraine hacking group Silent Crow said it carried out the attack, together with a Belarusian group.
It claimed on Telegram that its “prolonged and large-scale operation… completely destroyed” Aeroflot’s IT systems.
Aeroflot said it had cancelled more than 40 flights – mostly within Russia but also including routes to Belarus and Armenia – because of an issue with its information systems. Many other flights were delayed.
Silent Crow also threatened to release “the personal data of all Russians who have ever flown Aeroflot”.
“Glory to Ukraine! Long live Belarus!”, the post concluded.
The Belarusian group, which calls itself the Cyberpartisans, said on its website: “We are helping Ukrainians in their fight with the occupier, carrying out a cyber strike on Aeroflot and paralysing the largest airline in Russia.”
Hacker groups routinely exaggerate their successes and whether this latest attack causes any lasting disruption remains to be seen. The BBC hasn’t been able to verify any of Silent Crow’s claims.
However, the Russian prosecutor’s office confirmed there had been “a failure in the operation of the Aeroflot information system as a result of a hacker attack” and said a criminal investigation had been opened.
A number of passengers would be transferred to flights operated by other carriers, the transport ministry said.
Anton Gorelkin, a Russian MP, said in a statement: “We must not forget that the war against our country is being waged on all fronts, including the digital one.”
Pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian hacking groups have been extremely active since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – but it is hard to know when their boasts about various cyber-attacks are backed up with facts.
These gangs are often run by volunteers who target organisations and exaggerate their attacks to make headlines and degrade enemy morale.
This attack is a rare one that is having a visible and immediate impact on a major Russian company, affecting tens of thousands of civilians as well as the firm.
Silent Crow said they worked with the long-established Belarusian hacker group Cyber Partisans, which has been carrying out attacks against targets in Russia and Belarus since 2022. Cyber Partisans describes itsself as “a highly organised hacktivist collective that is fighting for the liberation of Belarus from dictatorial rule”.
Whilst many groups claim to be “hacktivists” – activist hackers – evidence points to some of having close ties with security services of the countries they support.
Since Moscow’s troops launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, travellers in Russia often face disruption – usually owing to attacks by Ukrainian drones.
Earlier in July hundreds of flights were cancelled at Moscow’s four main airports following a sustained Ukrainian drone attack, affecting tens of thousands of people.
