Ukraine mobile operator Kyivstar says services being restored

VEON

15/12/2023 20:52

Dec 15 (Reuters) - Ukraine's biggest mobile operator,
hit by a mass cyberattack this week, said on Friday that it had
restored mobile internet throughout Ukraine and restored
international roaming.
    In a statement on Facebook, Kyivstar said it was working on
restoring SMS text messaging. The network, it said, was
operating on all standards, including 4G.
    "This means that the quality of all communications will soon
improve, even if it is now working at reduced speed," the
statement said. 
    "In some localities, there could still be short-term
difficulties with communications. But our specialists are
eliminating them quickly."
    Kyivstar's Dutch-based parent company Veon Ltd.  VON.AS  had
in an earlier statement announced the resumption of services.
    Kyivstar CEO Oleksandr Komarov said on Thursday that the
company might need several weeks to reinstate all its services
after the attack.
    Tuesday's attack on Kyivstar, which counts more than half of
Ukraine's population as mobile subscribers, knocked out services
and damaged IT infrastructure and air raid alert systems in
several regions.
    Komarov said customer data was not compromised.
    On Wednesday, a group called Solntsepyok, believed by
Ukraine's security service SBU to be affiliated with Russian
military intelligence, said in a post on the Telegram messenger
app that it carried out the attack.
    Kyivstar's CEO said the hackers used an employee's
compromised account for the attack but how exactly they got
access to it is being investigated.

 (Reporting by Ron Popeski; editing by Grant McCool)
 ((Ronald.Popeski@thomsonreuters.com;))