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Almost nothing is working at Moscow Airport at the moment.
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A suspected hacker attack has severely disrupted operations at Russia's largest airline, Aeroflot. Dozens of flights have been canceled and thousands of passengers are stranded.
Russia's national airline Aeroflot experienced considerable disruption on Monday. The airline announced that its electronic systems had been affected by a technical defect, which had led to numerous flight cancellations and delays.
Flight tracking services counted at least 42 canceled connections by mid-morning. Travelers were asked to check airport websites and public announcements for the latest changes.
While technicians were still working "at full speed to restore operations", according to Aeroflot, a previously little-known hacker group made itself known on the internet. The group, called Silent Crow, claims to be behind the attack - and speaks of a "long-term planned and large-scale operation".
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In a public statement, Silent Crow claims to have destroyed around 7000 Aeroflot servers, paralyzed internal IT systems, taken over employees' computers and gained access to databases, monitoring systems and communication servers. The attack had "compromised and destroyed the airline's entire IT infrastructure".
According to the hacker group, the attack was possible because the CEO had not changed his user account password for over three years. In addition, the security systems were based on systems that were around 22 years old and had hardly been updated. "It was only a matter of time before we were able to penetrate the system," the group wrote on Telegram.
It remains unclear whether the information is correct - Aeroflot itself has not yet commented on the statements. The official message only mentions a "technical problem", not a targeted attack. "Our technicians are working to minimize the impact on air traffic," it continues.
The suspected attack has hit Aeroflot in an already tense geopolitical situation. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Russian companies have repeatedly been the target of cyber attacks - both from state actors and activist groups. The aviation sector is particularly vulnerable because modern airlines are heavily dependent on digital systems.
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Aeroflot had already been hit hard by international sanctions in spring 2022. Many Western leasing companies demanded their aircraft back and maintenance contracts were suspended. The current incident underlines how vulnerable the operations of the former flagship airline have become.
It remains to be seen whether the systems can be stabilized in the coming days. For many passengers, the uncertainty is likely to continue - as are the delays.
