Ukraine Claims to Have Hacked Russian Air Transport Agency

The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine reported that it conducted a successful attack against Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, known as Rosaviatsia, and acquired an unspecified number of documents pertaining to the daily operations of the agency across the entire country.

Cyberattacks have been part of the norm since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with some more successful than others. Russia is constantly trying various advanced phishing methods to compromise critical systems in Ukraine and looking for vulnerabilities.

On the other hand, Ukraine has been helped by hackers from around the world who are always seeking vulnerable targets. This latest attack is noteworthy because Ukraine’s intelligence service was the party responsible.

“The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine informs that as a result of a successful complex special operation in cyberspace, a large volume of confidential documents of the structural subdivision of the Russian Ministry of Transport - the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) - is now acquired,” said the Ukrainian authorities in a press release.

“Above mentioned agency is responsible for flight safety and records all cases of emergency during operation of Russian aviation. The data obtained as a result of hacking and penetration of enemy information systems includes a list of daily reports of Rosaviatsiya for the entire Russian Federation for more than a year and a half,” the authorities added.

According to the Ukrainians, the documents reveal the poor state of Russian aviation, showing that 185 accidents were recorded in Russian civil aviation in one month and that the safety hazards of flying in Russia have tripled.

Moreover, Russia has begun to cannibalize some of its planes to keep the others flying.

While it remains unclear how the Ukrainians pulled this off, the Russian counterparts have yet to confirm the breach.