Ukrainian operator Ukrtelecom suffered a long network outage across the country. In question, a cyberattack attributed to the Russians.
It is a fall that testifies to the violence of the cyberattack encountered by a Ukrainian Internet service provider, Ukrtelecom. During the day of March 28, 2022, the operator’s connectivity abruptly collapsed, falling from a level of around 80% (compared to its level before the war between Russia and Ukraine, this which is high in the context) to a low point below 13%.
The incident was severe, but also long-lasting: the interruption of service lasted nearly fifteen hours, according to a waypoint shared by NetBlocks, an observatory of freedom of access to the Internet, on the night of March 28 to 29. The curve showing the state of Ukrtelecom’s connectivity was indeed rising, a sign that the technicians of the Internet service provider ended up mitigating the attack.
The motivations behind this cyberattack, which caused the disconnection of part of Ukrtelecom’s customers, are not known today, nor the way in which it was carried out. The fact is that it appears to be one of the strongest “cyber” stocks since the start of the war in Ukraine, at least as far as the telecom sector is concerned.
Indeed, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia was curiously not supported by a very lively operation on the networks. Various actions were documented, but nothing devastating was noticed, to the astonishment of the United States itself. The most spectacular event remains the attack against a satellite network, but the scope of which remained moderate.
” Real-time network data shows ongoing and escalating nationwide service disruption, which is the most severe since the Russian invasion », by the way reviews NetBlocks. The main infrastructure of the ISP was affected, which the company also confirmed during a succession of progress points on social networks.
In a message posted on Facebook on March 28, Ukrtelecom referred to this computer attack, which was eventually repelled: “ After the pushback of the cyberattack, there are still partial difficulties in the operation of the Internet access service. Overall, 85% of services were restored from pre-attack levels. »
The operator added that efforts to restore the connection in the last corners still affected by the computer attack were continuing, calling on the population to be patient. Lugansk, in particular, was still in trouble, according to the message from the ISP. This region is one of two affected by secessionist action encouraged by Russia, which could eventually annex it.
Ukraine points to Russia as responsible
On Twitter, the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine, which is the Ukrainian equivalent of the National Agency for the Security of Information Systems in France, attributed the attack to Russia. ” Today the enemy launched a powerful cyberattack against the IT infrastructure of Ukrtelecom », he wrote on March 28.
The service, called DSSZZI, assisted the ISP in repelling the attack and enabling service to be restored. No Western assistance has been mentioned so far. The service provided to customers had to be limited for a time, in particular to prioritize access to the Ukrainian armed forces, which also need the Internet to fight Russian troops.
It is difficult to estimate the total number of Internet users who were taken offline because of this operation, but the Facebook page of the ISP contained more than a thousand comments on this affair. This significant fraction of Internet users who spoke on the networks suggests that there were many more people who were affected.
In general, it should be noted that the Internet network is holding up well in Ukraine, despite an invasion underway for nearly five weeks and operations that may have the effect of destroying portions of the network. The high rate of ISP connectivity is proof of this, as it has only decreased by 15 to 20% compared to its pre-war level.
Several factors can explain why the Internet has not collapsed in Ukraine. But one of the most important is undoubtedly the considerable effort made by Ukrainian technicians and engineers to restore the links as quickly as possible when they are broken. And foreign aid is, precisely, no stranger to this resilience either.
