A cyberattack on Russian state-run flagship airline Aeroflot caused mass halts on the company’s computer systems on Monday, according to the Russian prosecutor’s office, which forced the airline to cancel more than 100 flights and delay other flights.
Ukrainian hacker group Silent Crow and Belarus hacker activist group Cyberparty in Belarusopposes Belarusian presidential rules Alexander Lukashenkoclaimed responsibility for cyberattacks.
Since the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it has been one of the most devastating cyberattacks that have hit Russia. Previous attacks have targeted the Russian government’s website and other major Russian companies.
Images shared on social media show hundreds of delayed passengers crowding Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, where Aerofrot is based. The suspension also disrupted flights run by Aeroflot’s subsidiaries, Rossiya and Pobeda.
Many of the affected flights were domestic, but the confusion also led to cancellations of international flights. BelarusArmenia and Uzbekistan.
In a statement released early Monday, Aeroflot warned passengers that its information technology system has experienced unspecified challenges and confusion could continue.
The Russian prosecutor’s office later confirmed that the cyber attack caused a halt, which launched a criminal investigation.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the cyberattack report “very surprising,” adding that “the hacker threat remains a threat to all the big companies serving the public.”
Silent Crow claimed to have access to Aeroflot’s corporate network for a year and copied customer and internal data, including voice recordings of phones, data from the company’s own surveillance about employees, and other intercepted communications.
“All of these resources are currently inaccessible or destroyed, and it could take tens of millions of dollars to restore them. The damage is strategic,” wrote a channel written by the Silent Crow Group on Telegram. There was no way to independently test that claim.
The same channel also shared a screenshot that appears to show Aeroflot’s internal IT system, hinting that Silent Crows could begin sharing seized data in the coming days.
“The personal data of all the Russians who have flew with Aeroflot also went on a trip, despite reaching the same destination without luggage,” he said.
Belarus’ CyberParty Sands said it wanted to “deal with an overwhelming blow” to the Associated Press. The group previously claimed responsibility for many cyberattacks and said it was able to infiltrate the network of Belarus’ major KGB security agencies in April 2024.
“It’s a very large-scale attack and one of the most painful attacks in terms of outcome,” said group coordinator Yuliana Shametavets. She said the group has been preparing for attacks for several months and can penetrate the Aeroflot network by exploiting various vulnerabilities.
Belarus is an intimate ally of Russia. Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus in the hands of iron for over 30 years and relied on Russian subsidies and support, has allowed Russia to use his country’s territory to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and deploy some of the tactical nuclear weapons in Moscow, Belarus.
It is located at the Russian airport I faced a lot of delays repeatedly Flights are grounded amid safety concerns over the summer as a result of the Ukraine drone attack.
