JAKARTA Russia's national airline, Aeroflot, canceled dozens of flights on Monday, July 28 after a pro-Ukraine hacker group calling themselves "Silent Crow" claimed to have launched a massive cyberattack that crippled the company's information system.
In its official announcement, Aeroflot did not explain in detail the cause of the disturbance or when the system would fully recover. However, the departure information screen at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport appears to be dominated by red, signaling the number of canceled flights during the holiday season in Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the incident "very worrying". The Russian prosecutor's office also confirmed that Aeroflot's problems were caused by cyber attacks, and they have opened criminal investigations into the case.
In a statement claimed to be from the "Silent Crow" group, they claimed to have carried out this operation with the hacker group from Belarus, Cyberpartisans BY. The attack was directly linked to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
"Glory to Ukraine! Long live Belarus!" the group wrote in a statement.
Silent Crow has previously claimed responsibility for various cyberattacks on several institutions in Russia, including property databases, state-owned telecommunications companies, large insurance companies, Moscow city government IT departments, and Kia offices in Russia. Some of these attacks resulted in large-scale data leakage.
"Information circulating in public spaces is very worrying. The threat of hacking is a real danger to all large companies providing services to the public," Peskov said.
Until this news was published, Aeroflot, Russia's Ministry of Transport, and aviation authorities had not yet provided an official response to claims of the hacking attack.
Aeroflot reports that more than 50 flights were canceled "most of the domestic routes, but also flights to Minsk, the Belarusian capital, as well as to Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. At least 10 other flights were delayed.
"Our technicians are working hard to minimize the impact on flight schedules and restore operations as usual," Aeroflot wrote in a statement.
A statement from Silent Crow claimed that the attack was the result of a one-year operation. They claimed to have damaged 7,000 servers and taken over a number of employees' personal computers, including the top management of Aeroflot. They even threatened to start leaking "personal data of all Russian citizens who had used the Aeroflot service."
Angry Passengers
Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, flight disruptions have not been new in the country. However, so far disruptions are usually caused by temporary airport closures due to drone attacks, not digital attacks targeting airline IT systems.
On local social media such as VK, passengers vented their anger due to a lack of information and communication from the airline.
Malena Ashi wrote, 'I've been sitting at Volgograd Airport since 3:30 am!!!! This is the third reschedule!!!!!! Now he says go at 14:50, even though he should leave at jam!!!!
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Another passenger, Yulia Pakhota, complained that she could not contact customer service. "Call center cannot be contacted, the website is off, the application cannot be accessed. How can I return or exchange tickets as suggested by Aeroflot?"
In response, Aeroflot said affected passengers could request full refunds or reschedule flights within the next 10 days.
Although Western sanctions due to war in Ukraine have severely restricted Russia's international flight routes and activities, Aeroflot remains one of the 20 largest airlines in the world based on the number of passengers. Last year, Aeroflot served more than 55 million passengers, according to data on the company's official website.
Until now, the public is still waiting for further responses from authorities regarding the truth of claims by hacker groups and what cybersecurity measures the Russian government will take next.
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