Moscow Subway Website Hit by Cyberattack in Apparent Retaliation for Attack on Ukrainian Railways

Hacktivists have attacked the Moscow subway website, talking it down and creating problems for ticket buyers. This move is likely in retaliation for an attack against Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia) that occurred only a week ago. 

The highly sophisticated attack on Ukrzaliznytsia infrastructure affected a number of key systems, including ticketing, but authorities said train traffic remained stable and everything has been restored from backups. 

No particular group claimed the attack on Ukrainian Railways, but authorities said that it bears all the "tactics, techniques, and procedures typical for Russian intelligence services." 

Moscow Subway went through similar problems 

Unknown hackers targeted Moscow's subway systems, which became unusable, leaving travelers without the option to purchase tickets or extend existing subscriptions. While it took some time, the Russian authorities eventually acknowledged the problem but said nothing of a cyberattack. 

"On March 31, starting at 6:00, the Center for Monitoring and Control of the Public Communications Network (CMCN PPCN) recorded a surge in requests about problems with the Moscow Metro application. As of 12:00, the problem with the application's availability persists. Specialists are working to fix the problem," said the Russian authorities. 

The connection to the Ukrzaliznytsia attack is clear, as the Russian website briefly showed information from the Ukrainian Railways. 

Even so, Moscow's Department of Transportation blamed the problems on technical issues. 

"There may be temporary difficulties in the operation of the personal account of the Moscow Metro application due to technical work." 

Ukrainian authorities managed to restore the services in about three days. However, the Russian Metro company is still trying to restore services many days later, with users reporting that they still cannot log in the Metro app or their personal accounts. Moreover, some users say that it's impossible to top up their tickets, including through third-party services.