Ukrainian Hackers Launch Cyberattacks on Subsidiary of Major Russian Telecom

Ukrainian hacker group BO Team, alongside Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (HUR), launched a cyberattack on a subsidiary of MTS, one of the major telecom providers in Russia.

The target of the hack was Interregional TransitTelecom (MTT), a Russian fixed-line operator under MTS, where BO Team told RBC Ukraine that it was able to destroy the company’s software and configuration file and caused severe disruption to internet services across Russia, including Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The HUR told RBC Ukraine that hackers gained access to all of MTT’s network equipment prior to the cyberattack. Repair work could take months for MTT since it would need to physically connect each device across the country.  

Kyiv Post sources in the HUR also confirmed the operation and said “It was cool!” in relation to the hack.

At the time of publication, MTT’s website confirmed disruptions to its services and said it is “​​working on a speedy recovery.”

“We would like to inform you that some subscribers are experiencing difficulties accessing services. We are working on a speedy recovery,” the site read.

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According to MTT’s site, the company is a subsidiary of MTS public joint stock company (PJSC) that “[serves] thousands of corporate and millions of private clients” and is “among the TOP 10 largest Russian telecommunications companies.”

MTS is a major telecommunications provider in Russia with 78.5 million subscribers – approximately 31 percent of the market – as of 2020, according to the company’s site.

BO Team, alongside HUR, was also responsible for the January cyberattack on Russia’s Far Eastern scientific research center of space hydrometeorology, Planet, a Russian state enterprise responsible for receiving and processing military satellite data, and destroyed 280 servers and approximately 2 petabytes (2 million gigabytes) of data.