Aeroflot cancels dozens of flights after pro-Ukrainian hacker attack

Russia’s national airline Aeroflot was forced to cancel more than 40 flights Monday after being hit with a cyberattack carried out by a pro-Ukrainian group, reports said. 

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia said it launched a criminal investigation and “supervisory measures have been organized in connection with the delay and cancellation of flights at [Moscow’s] Sheremetyevo Airport. “

“The cause was a failure in the operation of the Aeroflot information system as a result of a hacker attack,” the office added on Telegram. 

A message purportedly from a group called Silent Crow said, “Glory to Ukraine! Long live Belarus!” and noted that it carried out the cyberattack with a Belarusian group called Cyberpartisans BY, according to Reuters. 

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The statement reportedly added that the cyberattack was a result of a year-long operation into Aeroflot’s IT network, with the hackers claiming 7,000 servers were destroyed. They also said they gained control of computers belonging to senior managers at Aeroflot, yet no evidence was provided to back up the claims, Reuters reported. 

“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 was quoted by the news agency as saying. 

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“There was a failure in the airline’s information systems. Service interruptions are possible,” Aeroflot said in its own statement on Telegram. 

“In this regard, a forced adjustment to the flight schedule is expected, including by postponing and canceling,” the airline added. “Currently, a team of specialists is working to minimize the risks of fulfilling the production flight plan and quickly restoring the normal operation of services. The airline apologizes for the inconvenience caused.” 

Russian lawmaker Anton Gorelkin said Monday, “We must not forget that the war against our country is being waged on all fronts, including the digital one,” according to Reuters. 

“And I do not rule out that the ‘hacktivists’ who claimed responsibility for the incident are in the service of unfriendly states,” Gorelkin added.