Ukraine’s largest mobile operator, Kyivstar, suffered a major outage that left all its subscribers without communications and internet access, prompting urgent investigations into the nature and origins of the crippling attack.
Kyivstar suddenly stopped providing service to its subscribers on the morning of December 12; Mobile communications were disrupted, there was no internet access and the company website was down.
Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said the problem was serious enough to warrant a meeting of government officials.
Problems with Kyivstar led to disruptions in the services of third-party providers.
Also read: Kyivstar network failure should be fixed today, minister says
As of September 2023, Kyivstar served more than 24 million mobile communications subscribers and more than 1 million home internet subscribers. The company offers a range of services using a variety of mobile and fixed technologies, including 4G, Big Data, Cloud solutions, cybersecurity services, digital TV and more.
In October, a court issued an arrest warrant for Kyivstar shares controlled by Russian-sanctioned oligarchs Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven and Andrey Kosogov. Kyivstar’s sole shareholder is the Dutch registered VEON group. In late November, the President’s Office stated that sanctions and subsequent confiscations against Kyivstar were “highly likely”.
Kyivstar sinking
Kyivstar initially provided brief information about the situation. In the morning, the company reported a technical malfunction that may affect the communication and internet services of some subscribers.
“Company experts are working to resolve the issue,” the official statement said.
Also read: Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo joins Kyivstar board of directors
However, towards noon, Kyivstar acknowledged a hacker attack.
“Kyivstar’s communications network fell victim to a powerful hacker attack that caused a technical malfunction that temporarily disrupted communications and internet services,” the company said in an official statement.
To document the circumstances and consequences of illegal interference in Kyivstar’s network, the operator enlisted representatives of law enforcement agencies and special government services currently operating in the company’s office.
According to the press release, as of now, subscribers’ personal data is protected. Operator experts are working to eliminate the consequences of hacking in terms of rapid restoration of communications and service provision.
“Kyivstar will undoubtedly pay compensation to subscribers who are out of touch or unable to use the operator’s services. “We apologize to subscribers for the temporary inconvenience and thank you for your understanding,” the operator’s statement emphasized.
Why is national roaming not working?
In March last year, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine announced the creation of national roaming; Ukrainian operators would allow switching between networks to maintain connectivity.
But in Kyivstar’s case, this did not work. From where?
Stanislav Prybytko, Director of the Mobile Communications Development Department at the Ministry of Digital Transformation, told NV Business that Kyivstar was unable to transmit information about its subscribers to other operators due to a general technical malfunction. Therefore, the communication problem also affected other services such as national roaming.
Also read: Kyivstar fallout – National roaming also decreased, Digital Ministry will meet with all mobile operators
“After resolving the current issue, we will discuss with all mobile operators how similar situations can be prevented and how we can protect users from unexpected communication problems,” Prybytko said.
However, speaking to NV Business, Vodafone Ukraine Public Relations Manager Victoria Ruban said that the national roaming service also works for other operators such as Vodafone Ukraine. Vodafone subscribers can register to another operator’s network (currently only Lifecell’s network).
“It’s probably not our fault. The service is available; everything is fine; it all works,” Ruban said.
Lifecell’s press service reported that “in the current situation, Kyivstar’s problem is probably not related to the base stations, but probably to the core of the network, so national roaming cannot work properly.”
The technical malfunction at the largest operator also affected other services such as PrivatBank. Some point-of-sale terminals, ATMs and self-service terminals may be unstable or disconnected.
“We are aware of the challenging situation and are making every effort to ensure that our customers feel safe in this situation. “In cases where mobile communication is not available, customers can call support via Privat24 or write to the online chat, where only internet access is sufficient,” added the bank’s press service.
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