Komarov explained how hackers managed to break into the system and gain access to Kyivstar's internal data
They hacked Kyivstar's defense through the account of one of its employees
Hackers have breached the cyber defense of Kyivstar mobile operator through the compromised account of one of its employees. This proves that even the most secure infrastructure can be compromised, said the company's president, Oleksandr Komarov, during a national telethon on Wednesday.
"We have to admit that this attack breached our defense. This happened because the account pool was compromised, the account of one of the employees was compromised, and the enemy was able to get inside the company's infrastructure. An investigation is underway," Komarov said, as quoted by Interfax-Ukraine.
The president of Kyivstar said that the issue is not about technology, but about the fact that any organization can have people who "conditionally guide Russian missiles or give away their passwords because social engineers work well."
The company has used the most advanced technologies to protect against cyber threats and has repelled about 500 cyberattacks since the start of the full-scale invasion, Komarov emphasized.
"It seems to me that Kyivstar's example shows that even the most secure infrastructure can be affected. It is real. We use the most advanced technologies from global suppliers to keep the company's perimeter protected from cyber threats. This is not the first year we have been facing the threat.... has repelled about 500 more or less serious attacks since the beginning of the war," he said.
As it became known, the attack was carried out by the Russian hacker group Solntsepyok, which is close to the Russian GRU.
"They did it to take down the largest telecommunications infrastructure in the country, to sow trouble, to emotionally affect Ukrainians. The ongoing war is one of the ways of war against Ukraine," the Kyivstar president emphasized.
Komarov also added that the company managed to restore voice services at the first stage, and will be able to restore the rest of the communication services overnight.
Background. Earlier, experts noted that Kyivstar could have been attacked with help from the inside.
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