Cyber Attacks Against Russia Lead to Leak of Over 300 Million Data Records: Deputy Head of Rostelecom

Cyber attacks on Russian resources have resulted in the leak of over 300 million data records, including personal information of users, in the public domain. This was stated by Igor Lyapunov, the Deputy Head of Cybersecurity at Rostelecom, during a conference on "Digital Industry of Russia" in Nizhny Novgorod.

“Recently, we conducted an analysis of what exists in the darknet, and what has been posted reaches hundreds of millions. More than 300 million different user data, records, and personal information have been leaked and published,” Lyapunov noted.

According to him, since the beginning of military operations in Ukraine, the conflict in cyberspace has gone through three phases. The first phase was marked in the first six months following the start of hostilities and resulted only in “image losses.”

“This was probably not a cyberwar, but rather a sort of mass hooliganism against the IT resources of the Russian Federation. This means large DDos attacks, with homepage breaches without significant damage,” Lyapunov explained.

During the second phase of the cyber conflict, which began in July-August 2022, attackers targeted large-scale data leaks. From February 2023, according to Lyapunov, Russia has entered the third phase of “cyberwar.”

“The aim of the attackers is not just some hooliganism; these are no longer mere leaks but attacks aimed at breaking and subsequently destroying infrastructure,” stated the Deputy Head of Rostelecom.

At the same time, he pointed out that the attackers' attention has shifted from state governance and media to critical information infrastructure, production management, and life support systems.

He noted that Russia's cybersecurity infrastructure is “constantly being built and adjusted by the state to strengthen and coordinate the repulsion of attacks.” Lyapunov admitted that in some cases “attackers will undoubtedly succeed,” but according to him, Russia is prepared to face the challenges. “In other words, I am quite optimistic here; we are now on the right path to constantly improving cybersecurity,” concluded the Deputy Head of Rostelecom.