Kyivstar denies hackers' months-long access to system

The Kyivstar company does not confirm the information that Russian hackers allegedly had months-long access to the company's systems to personal data of subscribers. This was stated by the company's representative Irina Lelichenko on 4 January.

The message came out after the words of Ilya Vityuk, head of the SBU cybersecurity department, in an interview with Reuters, according to whom the hackers had access to Kyivstar's system since at least May 2023.

Kyivstar does not confirm the information about the alleged months-long access of hackers "inside" the company to personal data of subscribers, and their leak. The official investigation into the cyberattack on Kyivstar network, which occurred on 12 December 2023, is still ongoing, so various versions are being considered, but until the official completion of the investigation, none of them can be considered definitive, - said in a statement.

It is noted that all information about the investigation of the cyberattack is available on the official website of the SBU, which is directly involved in this process.

No facts of leakage of personal data of subscribers in the course of the investigation have not been revealed, - said the representative of "Kyivstar".

It is noted that the cyberattack on the Kyivstar network affected some technological systems that were responsible for the work of communication, but they were restored within a few days thanks to the professional work of specialists and partners of the company.

It is stressed that Kyivstar has already applied additional measures for cyber defence, in particular, access control has been strengthened, additional control systems for servers and workstations have been implemented, and the next steps to strengthen cyber security are planned.

And, I remind you, the subscribers of the company, who could not use communication services due to unstable network operation during the cyberattack, will receive as a bonus - the next billing period without payment for the package of services, - reminded Irina Lelichenko.

She also said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be transferred UAH 100 million of support from the company.

We shall remind you that the head of the SBU cyber security department, Ilya Vityuk, said in an interview with Reuters that Russian hackers had been in the system of the Ukrainian operator Kyivstar for months.