Ukrainian Hackers Target the Russian Central Bank-Linked Telecom Firm

Ukrainian Hackers Target Russian Telecom Firm Connected to Central Bank

On Thursday, the Cyber Anarchy Squad, a Ukrainian hacking group, claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on Infotel JSC, a major Russian telecom firm that provides critical infrastructure to the Russian banking system. Though the extent of the attack’s impact on the banking system is still unknown, Infotel’s website confirmed that its “network equipment was damaged” in a “massive hacker attack.” The Cyber Anarchy Squad, which has been active since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, posted pictures of Infotel network diagrams and an Infotel official’s email screenshot on its Telegram channel. According to a Google translation of the post, the group wrote: “Acidify the soil, fill the ground with concrete. All their infrastructure is destroyed, nothing alive is left there.”

Possible Disruption to Russian Banking Services

The hacking group’s attack on Infotel, which apparently began on Thursday, occurred at a time of Ukrainian counter-offensive. Economichna Pravda, a Ukrainian news outlet reported that, as a result of the infiltration, “the main banks of Russia and credit organizations throughout the Russian Federation do not have access to banking systems and cannot make payments.” The extent of the attack and its impact on the financial system remains unclear. An unverified report on LiveMap, an online platform for geolocating online reports, suggested that customers did not have full access to banking services on Thursday.

Response and Impact of the Attack

Infotel’s website explains that the company is an authorized access provider to an automated communication system between the Central Bank of Russia and Russian credit institutions. Its network went down Thursday, and, as of Friday afternoon, remained disabled. Representatives from Infotel have not yet commented on the extent of the attack’s impact on their systems. Cyberscoop could not corroborate Economichna Pravda’s report on the cyberattack fallout.

Moscow-based Infotel is the primary provider of the Central Bank of Russia in addition to other financial institutions. The Ukrainian Cyber Alliance, a collective of hackers and various hacking groups in Ukraine, told Cyberscoop that Infotel was wiped out, “including servers (backups too) and core routers (configs reset, firmware erased).” The alliance speculated that Infotel would require at least a week to restore its services at a minimal level.

Ukrainian Cyber War

The assault on Infotel follows a series of cyberattacks associated with Ukraine‘s ongoing counter-offensive against Russian forces. Among them were attacks on Russian websites, of which some were allegedly hacked and tampered with in support of Ukraine‘s military and counter-offensive.

Expert Opinion

Sean Townsend, a spokesperson for the loosely based alliance of hackers and various hacking groups in Ukraine known as the Ukrainian Cyber Alliance, stated that Infotel was hosting a snapshot of its website from the Internet Archive, which it was currently operating on a third-party provider.

Editorial

While harm was definitely inflicted upon Russia‘s central bank by the cyberattack on Infotel, the exact extent of disruption is yet to be determined. Nevertheless, hacking groups are attempting to ascertain their sovereignty and superiority, not only on the battlegrounds but also in cyberspace. The amplification of cyberattacks, like the one by the Cyber Anarchy Squad, illustrates the vulnerability of critical infrastructure and the dangerous potential of cyber warfare outside of traditional combat zones.

Advice

Companies should prioritize their cybersecurity to defend against similar attacks. Having back up copies is a good practice because it allows access to information even if the company’s website is compromised, thus minimizing the impact of the attack.