Russian Airline Aeroflot Hit By Cyberattack, Grounding Flights
Russia’s national airline, Aeroflot, has suffered a cyberattack that crippled IT systems, forcing it … More
Russia’s national airline, Aeroflot, has suffered a cyberattack that crippled IT systems, forcing it to ground dozens of flights across the country.
Pro-Ukrainian hacker collective Silent Crow has taken credit for the cyberattack, according to TechCrunch, which cites a Telegram post claiming the breach.
Silent Crow performed the attack on Aeroflot alongside another Belarusian hacking group Cyberpartisans — which announced its role in a post on X, formerly Twitter, citing Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
Silent Crow said it had “completely destroyed” Aeroflot’s IT systems. The attackers were reportedly able to take over Aeroflot’s critical systems and access terabytes of internal company data.
They posted screenshots apparently showing how they had accessed Aeroflot’s internal active directory and claimed to be in possession of the personal data of every Russian who has flown with the airline. The hackers also threatened to leak this data.
Russian prosecutors have issued a statement confirming over 60 flights have been cancelled and said they are now investigating the cyberattack.
Aeroflot said the cancelled flights were mostly within Russia but also including routes to Belarus and Armenia, according to the BBC. The Kremlin has reportedly called this “worrying.”
Cyberattacks on airlines are a growing threat, with hacker collective Scattered Spider targeting the sector over the last few months, leading to an FBI warning on the subject.
In this case, attackers relied on social engineering techniques, such as impersonating employees or contractors to deceive IT help desks into granting access, according to the FBI.
It’s not known how hackers gained access to Aeroflot’s IT systems, or even who performed the attack. However, Silent Crow and Cyberpartisans claim to have political aims.
With geopolitical tensions rising across the globe, the attack on Russia’s national airline is a prime example of how warfare has gone beyond physical. Following the Aeroflot attack, Russian MP, Anton Gorelkin noted in a statement: “We must not forget that the war against our country is being waged on all fronts, including the digital one.”
“These cyberattacks raise concerns about a country’s own national security, critical national infrastructure as well as the safety of sensitive information,” says Spencer Starkey, executive VP of EMEA at SonicWall.
The Aeroflot cyberattack shows damage that can be done by an attack on an airline, making it key that the sector has the right safeguards in place to protect IT systems and falling victim to a breach of this kind. It also shows how this type of critical infrastructure can be used in warfare, a chilling sign of how future wars could be raged.