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Kyivstar, a prominent Ukrainian telecom company, has managed to restore its voice and fixed-broadband services after a major cyberattack crippled its network. The attack damaged the company’s IT infrastructure, affecting its 24.3 million mobile subscribers and over 1.1 million home internet users.
- Kyivstar announced on its Facebook page that over 90% of its mobile base stations are back in operation and voice services have been restored across the country.
- Data connectivity on the fixed network is also active and available again.
- The restoration of mobile data services is currently underway, starting with Ivano-Frankivsk in Western Ukraine.
- The telecom operator also warned its customers that their experience may vary depending on various factors.
- If users’ SIM cards do not connect with the mobile network, they are advised to reboot their phone and search for the network manually, or toggle airplane mode on and off.
The cyberattack is believed to be the largest in Ukraine since Russia invaded the country in February 2022. It not only disrupted Kyivstar’s services but also silenced air-raid-alert systems in some parts of the country and made shops unable to process credit card payments.
Kyivstar’s parent company, Veon, said in a statement that it’s not yet able to assess the full financial impact of Tuesday’s cyberattack as restoration of services continues.
Oleksandr Komarov, CEO of Kyivstar, hopes to have all voice, SMS, and mobile data services fully operational again by the end of the week. However, he added that restoring all other services could take several weeks.
Investigations are ongoing as to who is responsible for the cyberattack. An activist hacker group called Sointsepek claimed credit for the attack, but this has not yet been confirmed by Ukraine’s Security Service.
Despite Sointsepek’s claim to have destroyed a large number of Kyivstar’s computers and servers, the telecom company refuted this on Facebook, saying that the screenshots posted on Telegram by the group were “deliberately collected technological data” and not personal customer data.
Yegor Aushev, co-founder of Cyber Unit Technologies, advised all Kyivstar customers to change their passwords at the first opportunity given the circumstances.
