Cyberattack in late 2023 destructs 70% of Kyivstar's virtual infrastructure
As a result of an unprecedented cyberattack against the largest mobile operator Kyivstar, carried out at the end of 2023, some 70% of the virtual infrastructure was destroyed - 4,800 virtual servers out of 5,000 were damaged, company president Oleksandr Komarov said.
"There is a physical network, which is located throughout Ukraine, has its own architecture. Above it there is a virtual network that combines a technological IT network and a corporate IT network. So they were destroyed by 70%," he said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine agency.
He clarified that this is not about all segments.
"The segmentation worked well and this is one of the conclusions we made. The main conclusion is to do everything based on the assumption that you can be attacked every day," Komarov said.
According to the president of Kyivstar, after the cyberattack, the company significantly changed its approaches to building the entire network and combining geographic and virtual infrastructure.
"For example, we have a fairly significant geographical separation of the physical network, but we did not have the same geographical separation at the virtual network level. This cyberattack significantly affected our worldview. And not only ours, but also of other operators. We shared information with many companies, including with foreign ones, to help them strengthen their protection," Komarov said.
The president of Kyivstar indicated that there was no outflow of subscribers due to the cyberattack. In addition, none of the company's clients went to court. Also, in the criminal case, which is being investigated by the SBU regarding the cyberattack, not a single Kyivstar employee appears.