Kyivstar: Ukrainian Critical Telcom Assets Hit by Cyber Attack

Kyivstar, the Ukrainian telecom operator, recently faced a cyberattack disrupting internet and mobile services while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Washington advocating for increased military aid. The company assured on Facebook that subscriber data remained uncompromised, and collaborative efforts with Ukrainian authorities are underway to understand the interference’s circumstances and consequences. Telemetry from NetBlocks revealed the collapse of Kyivstar’s connectivity early Tuesday morning, impacting around half of Ukraine’s mobile subscribers. Market analysts at Telegeography reported 24.3 million mobile subscribers and over 1.1 million home internet subscribers affected.

Kyivstar CEO Oleksandr Komarov, in a video statement, didn’t directly attribute the attack to Russian state hackers but hinted at the likelihood. He emphasized the multifaceted nature of the war with Russia, including the cyberspace dimension. The outage led to disruptions beyond communication, affecting air raid sirens in Sumy, retail credit payments, and ATM access to major banks. The Russian hacktivist group KillNet claimed responsibility on Telegram, but skepticism arose due to discrepancies in their capabilities and the delayed release of the claim.

Cyber-attacks often have physical consequences as witnessed by the above impacts. Protecting critical infrastructure is paramount, especially amid Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine. Cyber risk quantification is vital, utilizing scenario modeling to visualize impacts in financial terms. This approach helps assess best and worst-case scenarios, ensuring preparedness against potential cyber threats targeting essential systems. Ukrainian officials reported that nearly three-quarters of this year’s cyber incidents involved civilian infrastructure, highlighting the urgency of safeguarding critical assets. As winter brings increased missile and drone attacks on civilian infrastructure, understanding and mitigating cyber risks become crucial components of national security strategies.

Cyber risk quantification (CRQ) is just one of several core elements in our Axio360 product. In addition to CRQ, our integrated software platform supports cybersecurity assessment, cybersecurity program planning, and insurance stress testing. If you are looking for a CRQ solution, you have come to the right place. Please reach out to us for a demo and we can show you how our clients gain enormous insight and value from even a single day of inquiry and analysis. We’re here to help you make sound decisions on priorities and investments to protect and sustain your most critical operations.

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