Ukrainian Hackers Claim Responsibility for Russian ISP Hack & Server Wipeout

After a severe cyberattack earlier this week, Russian internet provider Nodex announced that it is in the process of rebuilding its systems. The hackers infiltrated the network and wiped out internal servers, causing a complete and immediate loss of internet connectivity for its Russian customers.

Cloudflare, a networking giant that tracks web trends and traffic, reports that the outage at the regional ISP in Russia started late on January 6 and is still showing no customer internet traffic levels.

Nodex verified the hack in a post on the Russian VK social media platform. “The network has been destroyed. “We are raising it from backup copies,” the post read, as translated by automated software. The ISP stated that it did not have a specific recovery date in the near future.

A “complete failure” in the corporation’s infrastructure was allegedly caused by the cyberattack, which the company eventually blamed on Ukrainian hackers.

The Ukrainian Cyber Alliance claimed responsibility for the hack and published images taken from critical Nodex servers.

“The Russian internet provider Nodex in St. Petersburg was completely looted and wiped. Data was exfiltrated, while empty equipment without backups was left to them,” according to the group’s Telegram statement. These screenshots provide a glimpse into Nodex’s internal network, which includes a system for virtual machines, backups, and other vital systems.

The Cyber Alliance, a group of pro-Ukrainian activists established in 2016, has been targeting Russian companies since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, as reported by The Record, the first outlet to cover the breach.

As of Wednesday night, Nodex confirmed that restoration efforts are “ongoing” in St. Petersburg, Russia, where the company provides internet services.