The Kremlin explains that the airline is “worried” about reporting a cyberattack on Russian national airline Aeroflot after reporting information system failures and canceling dozens of flights.
The statement claiming it was from a procrane hacking group called Silent Crow said it had performed the hack along with the Belarusian group.
“We declare that a long-term, large-scale operation has been completed successfully, and as a result, Aeroflot’s internal IT infrastructure has been completely compromised and destroyed,” the group complained on Telegram.
They also claimed they were able to destroy databases and corporate systems and control employee personal computers.
Silent Crow also threatened to release “personal data of all Russians who have flew aeroflot to date.”
“Glory to Ukraine! Long Live Belarus!” has ended.
Hacker groups routinely exaggerate their success, and it is still unclear whether this latest attack will cause permanent confusion. The BBC was unable to verify the silent crow’s claims.
However, the Russian prosecutor’s office confirmed that “the operation of the Aeroflot information system failed as a result of the hacker attack” and said a criminal investigation was opened.
The Ministry of Transport said many passengers will be transferred to flights run by other airlines.
The cancellation primarily affected internal flights, but routes to Belarus, Armenia and Tashkent were also destroyed.
Since the full-scale invasion of Russia’s Ukraine in 2022, pro-Lucia and pro-Ukrain hacking groups have been very active, but it is difficult to know that their bragging about various cyberattacks is backed up by the facts.
These gangs are often run by volunteers who target organizations, exaggerate attacks and create headlines, and lower enemy morale.
The attack is a rare attack that has a visible immediate effect on major Russian companies, affecting tens of thousands of civilians and companies.
Silent Crow said it had worked with Cyberpartisan, a long-established Belarusian hacker group that has been attacking Russian and Belarusian targets since 2022. Cyberparty describes it as “a highly organized hackitivist group fighting for Belarus’ liberation from the dectatorial rules.”
While many groups claim to be “hattitivists” – activist hackers, the evidence shows they have close ties with the security services of the country they support.
Since Moscow’s troops began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian travelers often face chaos – usually due to attacks by Ukrainian drones.
In the beginning of July, after a persistent drone attack in Ukraine, hundreds of flights were cancelled at four major Moscow airports, affecting tens of thousands of people.
