Cyber attack on Russian airline Aeroflot leads to cancellation of more than 100 flights
The Russian prosecutor’s office said a cyber attack on the Russian state-owned flagship airline Aeroflot caused a massive disruption to the company’s computer system on Monday.
Ukrainian hacker group Silent Crow and Belarusian hacker activist group Belarusian cyber parties oppose the rule of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, claiming responsibility for cyber attacks.
Images shared on social media show hundreds of delayed passengers crowded Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, where Aeroflot is located. The power outage also destroyed flights operated by Aeroflot’s subsidiary Rossiya and Pobeda.
Although most of the affected flights were domestic, the damage also led to the cancellation of some international flights to Belarus, Armenia and Uzbekistan.
Aeroflot warned passengers in a statement released earlier Monday that the company’s information technology system is experiencing unspecified difficulties and that such interference may occur.
The Russian prosecutor’s office later confirmed that the cyber attack caused a power outage and a criminal investigation has begun.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the report of the cyber attack “very shocking” and added: “The hacker threat is a threat to all the large companies that provide services to the public.”
Silent Crow claims it has accessed Aeroflot’s corporate network for a year, replicating customer and internal data, including recordings of phone calls, company’s own data monitoring of employees, and other intercepted communications.
“All of these resources are now inaccessible or destroyed, and it may take tens of millions of dollars to recover them. The damage is strategic,” the channel claimed by the silent Crow Group wrote on the telegram. There is no way to independently verify its claims.
The same channel also shares screenshots that appear to show Aeroflot’s internal IT system and suggests that the silent crow can start sharing data captured in the coming days.
“The personal data of all Russians who once flew with Aeroflot is now also traveling – despite having no luggage and the same destination,” it said.
Belarus’ cyber parties told the Associated Press that they hope to “came a blow of destruction.” The group had previously claimed responsibility for many cyber attacks and said in April 2024 that they were able to penetrate Belarus’ major KGB security agency network.
“It was a very big attack and one of the most painful attacks in terms of consequences,” said group coordinator Yuliana Shametavets. She said the team has been preparing for the attack for months and was able to penetrate the Aeroflot network by exploiting various vulnerabilities.
Belarus is a close ally of Russia. Lukashenko has ruled Berarus with his iron hand for more than 30 years and relied on Russian subsidies and support to allow Russia to use its country’s territory to fully invade Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and deployed some of Moscow’s tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
Russia’s airports have repeatedly faced massive delays throughout the summer due to Ukrainian drone attacks, and flights have taken root due to security concerns.
