Russian M9 Telecom Suffered An Alleged Retaliating Ransomware Attack
Moscow-based internet provider known as M9 Telecom suffered a retaliation attack from Ukrainian-based hackers allegedly in response to the attack on Kyivster, the Ukrainian telecom giant, a few ago.
The hackers in connection with Ukraine’s main spy agency have successfully breached computer systems at a Moscow-based internet provider, according to a source with direct knowledge of the operation.
SBU Coordinated Attack on Moscow’s M9 Telecom
According to the report, the hacking group, known as Blackjack, had previous connections to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
Furthermore, the threat actors wiped out 20 terabytes of data at M9 Telecom, a small Russian internet and TV provider, leaving considerable Moscow residents without internet, the source said. However, the cyber intrusion was a warm-up for a larger cyber attack which would be brutal retaliation for Kyivstar, the source asserted.
As of the time of writing, M9 Telecom did not respond to an emailed request for comment or officially confirmed the attack. The firm’s website was still active on Tuesday, despite affirmative claims by the hacking group that it had been destroyed.
Notably, we are currently unable to independently ascertain the extent to which the breach was successful. Reached by phone, M9 Telecom’s CEO Andrey Pavolvsky declined to comment.
A few days ago, the Russian hackers infiltrated and disrupted Ukraine’s largest telecom operator Kyivstar months before the December hack, according to Ukraine’s top cyber official report.
The attack on Kyivstar was one of the highest-impact disruptive cyberattacks on Ukrainian networks since Russia’s invasion. The aggression left millions of Kyivstar subscribers without a mobile signal and internet for days beginning on December 12.
Separately, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, the GUR, said late on Monday that it had obtained a large stash of classified Russian military data from the Special Technology Centre (STC), a sanctioned Russian firm that delivers the Orlan drone and a range of intelligence equipment for Moscow.
