Kyivstar Down: Cyberattack Cripples Ukraine’s Largest Telecom Provider
Kyivstar, Ukraine’s premier telecommunications operator serving over 25 million mobile and home internet subscribers, has experienced a cyberattack impacting its mobile and internet services.
The company’s official website is currently inactive, but through social media channels, it was revealed that Kyivstar fell victim to a potent hacker assault this morning. This attack led to a technical malfunction, severely hampering access to mobile and internet services.
ℹ️ Update: Metrics indicate that Ukraine telco #Kyivstar is again largely offline despite a brief restoration earlier today, as the company works to restore service following a cyberattack that has left millions of subscribers offline since early this morning 📉 pic.twitter.com/oiyqHMi4lY
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) December 12, 2023
Kyivstar promptly reported the incident to law enforcement and other state agencies. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has initiated a criminal investigation under eight articles of the Ukrainian Criminal Code and announced that its special agents are involved in the investigation.
Kyivstar assured in its statement that the personal data of its subscribers remained uncompromised during the incident. Subscribers unable to access Kyivstar services will receive appropriate compensation.
The independent internet observatory NetBlocks confirmed the current unavailability of Kyivstar’s internet services, observing a sharp decline in traffic since the morning.
Ukrainian telecommunications companies have implemented a system of free domestic roaming. Should any operator become unavailable in a certain area, users can switch to another operator’s network to restore mobile connectivity.
