Hackers from a group called the “BO Team” have launched a major cyberattack on Vega, a Russian internet provider. This attack has caused big problems, including cutting off internet and communication services for important places in Snezhinsk, a city in Russia known for its secretive Soviet-era facilities.
Here’s what happened: The BO Team claimed responsibility for the attack and said they managed to take down over 1,170 of Vega’s network switches and 10 of its servers. They also reported that they completely wiped out all the information on these servers. Because of this, internet and communication services have been down in Snezhinsk for five days, and it’s unclear when things will be fixed.
Vega is the only internet provider in Snezhinsk, and one of the city’s major enterprises, the All-Russian Research Institute of Technical Physics (VNIITF), relies only on Vega for its internet. VNIITF is involved in developing nuclear weapons, and the hackers managed to get hold of sensitive personal data and documents from this facility.
The BO Team claims they now have information on how VNIITF is bypassing international sanctions. They say they have seen evidence of this in the stolen documents and have even hinted that the attack could disrupt Russia’s defense procurement. The hackers proudly took credit for this disruption and warned that it wouldn’t be the last time they strike.
Vega, the internet provider, only acknowledged that their network was attacked and promised to restore services by August 17. However, the BO Team expressed doubt about this timeline, suggesting it might take longer to fix the damage.
This cyberattack is part of a larger pattern of hacking activities targeting Russia. Earlier in July, a group of volunteer hackers and cyber experts from Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence attacked about 100 Russian websites with great success.
